The Chris Williams case against the Ticats is headed to arbitration next week, raising further questions as to whether he'll be a Ticat uniform this season.

The Ticat receiver is alleging the team failed to offer him the minimum contract of one-year plus an option when it signed him to a three-year deal in the fall of 2010 and that it knowingly dealt with a representative who wasn't certified by the CFL Player's Association.

If successful, Williams could be declared a free agent immediately. It is expected that he would then try and sign with an NFL team

At issue is a provision within the league's collective bargaining agreement that stipulates every player must be offered a minimum-term contract - one year plus a team-held option - even if the club is offering a longer-term contract. Williams is contending that he was not offered a minimum deal at the time he signed his CFL deal.

Williams also says the Ticats negotiated his initial contract with his NFL agent, Bryan Cox, despite knowing he was not certified by the CFL player's association, also in contravention of the CBA. Williams fired Cox last October and subsequently hired Dan Vertlieb, who represents a number of high-profile CFL players, including Travis Lulay and Geroy Simon.

A hearing is expected to take place in Toronto sometime next week and a judgment would be expected within 30 days, according to the terms set out by the CBA.

Messages left with Williams and his agent, Dan Vertlieb, were not returned while the Ticats declined comment.

Williams, 25, won the CFL's most outstanding rookie award in 2011 and followed that up with a 2012 campaign that saw him set a record with six kick-return TDs and earn the league's nod for most outstanding special-teams player (not to mention almost 1,300 receiving yards).

Under his existing CFL contract, Williams is earning between $50,000 and $60,000 a season. That pales in comparison to the NFL minimum of $405,000 for 2013, with practice squad players earning about $90,000.

Regardless of the outcome of the arbitration hearing, Williams could potentially sit out the entire 2013 Ticats season and still become a free agent next February. He did not attend the team's mini-camp in April.