With his playing career on hold as the NFL investigates him, free agent receiver Antonio Brown and his legal team now turn their attention to the courts.
Brown's long-awaited grievances against the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots have been filed on his behalf by the NFL Players Association, sources say.
His appeal -- as he is seeking to recoup roughly $40 million in unpaid salary, fines and voided guarantees -- likely won't be heard by the system arbitrator until the spring, sources say. It figures to be a major uphill battle to recoup the entire sum.
Brown's grievance includes a challenge of the Raiders' discipline, which resulted in roughly $215,000 in fines. He's also seeking a week of salary from when he requested to be released from Oakland -- $860,294. He's looking for payment of the guarantees for 2019 and 2020 -- $29 million -- plus his signing bonus of $1 million, which was divided into two workout bonuses.
From the Patriots, Brown filed to receive his unpaid Week 1 salary of $64,062 and the rest of the $1.025 million total that was his guaranteed base salary. He's seeking the $9 million signing bonus that was never paid, too, sources say. Brown also filed for breach of contract.
The grievances, which total more than $40 million, were officially filed Friday afternoon. Brown is currently the subject of an NFL investigation after he was accused in a civil lawsuit of rape and sexual assault. He was released by the Pats after he was reported to have texted a second accuser intimidating messages.
In the days after the release, Brown tweeted his frustration at owners who can "cancel deals."
"We will see if the @NFLPA hold them accountable," Brown tweeted. "Sad they can just void guarantees anytime going on 40m 2 months will see if they pay up!"
Follow Ian Rapoport on Twitter @RapSheet.
