Kenny Britt reportedly files salary grievance against Patriots

Before settling on their current group of wide receivers, the New England Patriots had plenty of players at the position in town. One of them was veteran Kenny Britt, who originally joined the team as an in-season free agency pickup in 2017. Britt was unable to stick around, however, and released by the team in late August. Now, he has reportedly filed a grievance against the Patriots.

According to the Boston Sports Journal’s Miguel Benzan, the details of the grievance are unclear at the moment but it likely stems from Britt’s release: it appears as if the 30-year old is arguing that he was still injured when New England opted to release him. Teams, of course, are not allowed to let players go when they are dealing with injury. Either they are kept on the roster or placed on an appropriate reserve list.

The grievance has an impact on the Patriots’ salary cap. Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, 40% ($420,000) of his original 2018 salary of $1.05 million will hit the team’s salary cap upon filing. According to Benzan, this leaves the Patriots with a cap space of $1,246,752. If New England wins, the team receives a credit and increase this space. If it loses, however, the 60% that are left ($650,000) will also count against the salary cap.

New England, which has 10 days to file an answer to the grievance, is not new to the business of dealing with such cases. Just earlier this year, ex-Patriots wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell filed a grievance against the team. It was eventually settled, something that might also happen in this particular case.