Quarterback AJ McCarron has won his grievance against the Bengals and now enters the offseason as an unrestricted free agent.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport first reported the league's ruling.
The crux of McCarron's grievance was that the Bengals put him on the Non-Football injury list in 2014 to prevent him from accruing a full season, per league regulations, even though he was healthy enough to play. McCarron was put on that list for all but three games; a player needs to play six games to have a year count toward contractual regulations.
If that season had counted as a full season, that would mean McCarron has played four seasons instead of three, as the Bengals asserted.