K'Waun Williams and Terrelle Pryor

K'Waun Williams defends a pass in training camp.

(John Kuntz)

BEREA, Ohio -- Former Browns cornerback K'Waun Williams has filed a grievance against the team though the NFLPA seeking payment for his upcoming ankle surgery and his entire 2016 salary of $600,000.

The grievance was filed last week, a league source told cleveland.com. It's not expected to be heard until the spring.

Williams recently saw an independent foot specialist who confirmed that he needs surgery to remove bone spurs from his ankle. Once he has the surgery, which is as yet unscheduled, he'll need about 12 weeks to recover, which means he's likely out for the rest of this year.

About a dozen teams have inquired about Williams since he was failed his physical with the Bears on Aug. 31. The Bears had claimed him on waivers.

The Browns waived Williams Aug. 29 while he was serving a two-game suspension for refusing to play in Green Bay. The Browns say he told them he didn't want to play, and retired instead.

Williams' agent, Evan Krakower, says his client didn't want to play the game on his injured ankle.

Krakower said Williams, the starting nickel back the previous two years, first injured it during organized team activities in the spring and aggravated it during the Orange and Brown scrimmage at Ohio State Aug. 6. He said Williams felt compelled to either play or retire in Green Bay.

After he refused to play that day, the Browns suspended Williams for two weeks and fined him a game check, which he appealed.

Since the Green Bay game, an independent foot specialist from the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Robert Anderson in North Carolina both told him he needs ankle surgery to remove bone spurs. Since then, he failed the physical in Chicago and was also told by the independent specialist that he needs surgery.

Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown declined to say recently whether the team planned to pay for the surgery.