The Washington Redskins’ Scot McCloughan problem isn’t going away.

If anything, it could get worse, and soon, says Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com.

The former Redskins GM, who was fired by the team on March 9, has an upcoming grievance hearing on Dec. 18, one day after the Redskins play the Cardinals at FedEx Field. Florio has been reporting on this for months, and in November, he reported:

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, a hearing has been set for December 18 in the grievance filed by former G.M. Scot McCloughan against the team. Fired by the team in March for cause, McCloughan seeks payment of the balance of his contract. Washington has refused to pay. It’s believed that Washington will argue that McCloughan was fired for alcohol use. The grievance is to expected to focus on proving that it’s a pretext for some other reason that would not justify blocking his compensation.

On Friday, Florio told Chad Dukes of 106.7 The Fan that, depending on how it goes and the extent to which information is leaked to the press, the hearing could have serious implications on current Redskins staffers, namely team president and head coach Jay Gruden.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Jay Gruden’s not back next year,” Florio said, speaking more broadly on the state of the team’s performance. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Bruce Allen isn’t back next year. Although, Allen probably, by virtue of his lineage, pierces through that typical Dan Snyder ‘I’m getting rid of whoever I need to get rid of’ bubble, because he gets that George Allen benefit of the doubt. But even that at some point’s got to run itself out.”

“And also, there’s a factor here that I think we aren’t paying enough attention to,” he said. “The Scot McCloughan grievance hearing, which is coming up in 15 days, 18 days, something like that. It’s on the 18th, the Monday after Week 15.

“That, depending upon how the evidence comes out, how big of an embarrassment it is, how bad it makes the organization look, that could color the way that Dan Snyder looks at some key employees, including Allen and Gruden.”

“If transcripts are leaked that show some embarrassing inability to properly manage the situation with Scot McCloughan,” he explained. “And, I don’t know much about the evidence that’s going to be introduced, but I would guess that, if this thing doesn’t get resolved, it’s gonna be a big, ugly mess for the team, and it’s gonna be a big, ugly mess for specific individuals like Allen and Gruden, based upon the way the dominoes may fall when it’s time for Scot McCloughan to prove that he got screwed when he got fired for cause and didn’t get paid out the final two years of his contract.”

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