Redskins’ Arrington Files a Grievance

Linebacker LaVar Arrington of the Washington Redskins filed a grievance Monday over $6.5 million he says is missing from his latest contract.

Arrington, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, signed a nine-year, $68-million contract in December, but says he agreed to a $74.5-million deal. Arrington contends the contract was supposed to include a $6.5-million roster bonus for 2006.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league received a “standard noninjury grievance” from Arrington’s attorney. Aiello said the league would work with the players’ union to schedule a hearing, and the case would be decided by an arbitrator.

The Redskins have denied any wrongdoing. The team said Arrington’s agent, Carl Poston, initialed every page of the contract before it was filed with the league.

*

Two-time Pro Bowl tackle Todd Steussie, 33, became the latest addition to an overhauled offensive line when he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who also signed backup quarterback Jason Garrett and cornerback Tom Knight.

Former Denver and Miami quarterback Brian Griese visited the Buccaneers’ training facility and met with Coach Jon Gruden.

Steussie, a 10-year veteran, was released by Carolina last week.

Garrett has made nine starts in 11 seasons. Knight has been a part-time starter in seven seasons.

*

Receiver Terrell Owens will learn today whether he is headed for the Baltimore Ravens next season or will become a free agent.

Stephen Burbank, the arbitrator for disputes between the NFL and its players’ union, heard arguments from lawyers.

Owens, who spent eight seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, was supposed to become a free agent March 3. But his agent failed to file papers voiding the final years of his contract by a Feb. 21 deadline.

The NFL ruled Owens belonged to the 49ers, who traded him to Baltimore for a second-round draft pick. Owens has said he would like to play for Philadelphia, with whom he reportedly had settled on a $10-million signing bonus on the expectation he would be traded there.

*

Pro Bowl receiver David Boston was traded by the San Diego Chargers to the Miami Dolphins for a sixth-round pick in 2005 and a player to be named.

Boston is guaranteed $6.9 million over the next two seasons under terms of the seven-year, $47-million contract he signed with the Chargers last off-season.

Jurisprudence

Former 49er quarterback Jeff Garcia, who last week signed with the Cleveland Browns, was sentenced in Santa Clara, Calif., to seven days in a work-release program after pleading guilty to driving drunk.

Garcia was fined $1,491 and will have to attend an educational program for six months. He will be able to drive only to and from work.

Harlem Globetrotter forward Paul Gaffney said he saw Benoit Benjamin standing near former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams just before the ex-New Jersey Net center allegedly shot a chauffeur two years ago.

The testimony at Somerville, N.J., may support the the account of Benjamin, a former Globetrotter who said in court that he was close enough to see a shell in the shotgun and Williams pull the trigger.

Williams is accused of killing Costas “Gus” Christofi, 55, in the former player’s bedroom after a night out with friends, then trying to make it look like a suicide.

The parents of a Fresno State equestrian team member who died after falling from a horse filed a $10-million negligence claim against the school.

Shana Eriksson, 18, spent three days in a coma and died in September after her horse spooked, whirled and fell on her during a trail ride with two teammates. The university maintains the accident was unrelated to any team activity and that Eriksson was riding at her own risk.

Olympic champion figure skater Victor Petrenko was accepted into an alcohol education program in New Hampshire that would clear his record of a drunk-driving charge.

Miscellany

The NBA has cleared the way for the use of Staples Center for a heavyweight title fight between Vitali Klitschko and Corrie Sanders on April 24.

An official announcement is expected today.

Staples Center needed approval from the NBA for the date because of the playoffs, which begin the weekend of April 17-18.

Naoko Takahashi, who won the women’s marathon at the Sydney Olympics, failed to earn a spot on Japan’s team for the Athens Games.

Olympic 5,000-meter champion Gabriela Szabo of Romania will not compete in the Athens Games because of exhaustion.