ESPN NFL

Cleveland Browns: The agent for WR Dennis Northcutt notified the club on Thursday that he has filed a grievance with the league's Management Council. Jerome Stanley said the basis of the grievance is "failure to bargain in good faith, breach of contract, and more." His intention is to have his client be declared a free agent. Stanley missed the deadline to file for free agency but the Browns gave him permission to seek a trade. But he has been frustrated by their reluctance to trade with the rival Baltimore Ravens who are offering a fourth-round and seventh-round choice. "I'm afraid the [Browns] are so mean-spirited, they will decide, 'Let's hurt him because we can,' " Stanley told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "This is not a team trying to help themselves." Carmen Policy, Browns president, said: "There's absolutely no justification whatsoever for a grievance."Where's the breach of a contract? We didn't have a contract [after Feb. 19]. It expired. And we bargained right up until that deadline, so I don't see how that's bargaining in bad faith."

Detroit Lions: Perhaps no team suffered as many injuries last season as Detroit. Among the hardest hit positions was the secondary and one of the first players to fall was starting CB Chris Cash. The third-year player was lost for the season with an ACL injury in the third preseason game but he is recovering very nicely. "My knee is pretty much healed," Cash told the Detroit News. "We can start backpedaling, planting, doing side-to-side agilities." He shouldn't have much trouble coming back from the injury at 100 percent because the ligament was only partially torn and when doctors began surgery they noted that the ligament already had begun to heal. A healthy Cash will likely be the nickelback behind CB Dre' Bly and newly acquired CB Fernando Bryant.

Oakland Raiders: All things being equal, TE Roland Williams wanted to sign with his hometown Buffalo Bills, but that isn't going to happen. According to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle the Bills told Williams that they weren't going to offer him a contract until after the draft. Williams re-signed with the Raiders, agreeing to terms late Thursday for a three-year contract. "I've always been a fan of the hometown team and I'm sorry they couldn't step up and get me there," said Williams. "I'd have loved to finish my career at home. But to all the Bills fans out there, tell them I'll see them next season." Buffalo plays at Oakland this fall.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider