Panthers, Gilbert Agree to Terms

Defensive tackle Sean Gilbert, who sat out the 1997 season in a dispute with the Washington Redskins, agreed Tuesday on a contract with the Carolina Panthers that would make him the NFL’s highest-paid defensive lineman ever.

The six-year, $40-million deal is contingent on the Panthers working out a compensation package with the Redskins for Gilbert.

“We’re far from done,” Carolina Coach Dom Capers said in Orlando, Fla., where he is attending the NFL meetings. “We’ve gotten past Step A, but we’ve still got Steps B and C to go.”

Gilbert’s contract, worth an average of about $6.7 million a season, surpasses the five-year, $32.5-million deal given to defensive tackle John Randle by the Minnesota Vikings.

“This wasn’t free agency, this was an auction,” said Bob Ackles, the Miami Dolphins’ personnel director whose team bid $6 million for Gilbert.

The Panthers announced the move one day after a ruling kept Gilbert from becoming a free agent. Special master Jack Friedenthal said that Gilbert must remain the designated franchise player for the Redskins.

Washington made Gilbert available after it signed San Francisco’s Dana Stubblefield as a free agent and traded for Cincinnati’s Dan Wilkinson.

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The San Diego Chargers signed unrestricted free agent Gerald Dixon, a linebacker, to a $1.7-million, two-year contract.

Tennis

Top-ranked Martina Hingis edged Serena Williams, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), in the quarterfinals of the Lipton Championships at Key Biscayne, Fla.

That’s one Williams down and one to go for Hingis, the defending champion. In Thursday’s semifinals she’ll play Serena’s sister, Venus, who beat Silvia Farina, 6-1, 6-2.

In men’s fourth-round play, second-ranked Petr Korda squandered his chance to overtake No. 1 Pete Sampras in the rankings next week by losing to Tim Henman, 6-4, 6-4. Sampras was eliminated Monday by Wayne Ferreira, who then lost to qualifier Steve Campbell, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 7-5.

Third-ranked Marcelo Rios, who could become No. 1 if he wins the tournament, beat Goran Ivanisevic, 6-2, 6-3. Andre Agassi beat Albert Costa, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-1, and faces a quarterfinal against unpredictable Jeff Tarango, who upset Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Winter Sports

Another piece of the broadcast revenue plan for the 2002 Winter Olympics fell into place with the announcement at Salt Lake City of a long-term agreement between the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and International Olympic Committee.

Under the agreement, the CBC will broadcast the next five Olympic Games for $160 million. The CBC will pay $22 million to air the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Nicole Bobek withdrew from next week’s World Figure Skating Championships. . . . Sarah Schleper moved from eighth place with a blistering second run to win the women’s giant slalom in the U.S. Alpine Ski Championships at Jackson Hole, Wyo. . . . Shannon Miller, Canada’s Olympic women’s hockey coach, is being fired a month after guiding her country to a silver medal at Nagano.

Soccer

Major League Soccer attendance dropped 8.5% for its first six games. MLS is averaging 19,452, down from 21,272 for the first six games last season.

Colombia’s top anti-drug official said police have discovered a plot by drug traffickers in his country to use the 1998 World Cup soccer competition to smuggle drugs into Europe.

Colombian cartels plan to take advantage of the large number of Colombians traveling to France for the soccer championship, Gen. Rosso Jose Serrano said.

Miscellany

Former Dallas Maverick star Roy Tarpley was freed after spending two nights in an Arlington, Texas, jail on a warrant accusing him of misdemeanor assault.

Police arrested the 7-foot former NBA player Sunday night after responding to a disturbance call at an Arlington apartment complex.

David Poile, general manager of the NHL’s expansion Nashville Predators, was appointed general manager of the U.S. national team for the World Championships May 1-17 in Switzerland.

Former San Francisco 49er tight end Brent Jones, who retired after last season, has been hired as a studio analyst by CBS. He will work alongside Jim Nantz, the host of CBS’ new “NFL Today” show, and two other analysts yet to be named.

The New York Daily News, citing an unidentified executive for Showtime, said representatives for Evander Holyfield and Henry Akinwande are working out the final details for a June 6 bout at Madison Square Garden.

Mike Welsch, who lost his left leg in 1979 after a motorcycle crash, will again run the Boston Marathon. Welsch failed to qualify this year but after a newspaper printed Welsch’s story, marathon officials will allow him to run.