Arrington Signs With Rival Giants

Wish Is Granted to Stay in NFC East

When LaVar Arrington boldly bought out his contract with the Washington Redskins for $4.4 million, one of his prerequisites for his impending free agency was to remain in the NFC East. That desire was ostensibly to maintain his personal and business contacts in the Washington area but actually to get two chances each season to show his former team that its marginalization of him last season would one day haunt it.

Arrington, 27, set the stage for his vindication yesterday by signing a seven-year, $49 million contract with the reigning NFC East champion New York Giants, intensifying a rivalry in what has traditionally been the most bitterly contested division in football.

"We needed a big, power player to add to our defense and LaVar Arrington is that," Giants General Manager Ernie Accorsi told the Associated Press. "He has a presence about him and he makes us a better football team."

Arrington's arrival in New York closes a chapter with the Redskins and opens another. During the offseason, as discussions heightened between he and Jacksonville, Miami, Cincinnati, Green Bay and the Giants, personnel executives around the league questioned which Arrington was on the market. Was he the player who from 2000 to 2003 missed just two of 64 games and was the signature player on the Redskins' defense? Or the player who for the past two seasons played just 17 of 32 games and saw his support dwindle among head coach Joe Gibbs, assistant head coach-defense Gregg Williams and especially linebacker coach Dale Lindsey?

If Redskins coaches no longer believed Arrington to be an impact player, Redskins players did not believe Arrington's value had diminished, and during voluntary workouts last month expressed a healthy respect for his skills. Clinton Portis called him "a dangerous opponent." Former Redskins safety Ryan Clark, who called Arrington one of his best friends on the team, said Arrington was "hungrier to succeed than ever."

Yet securing a satisfactory deal took time. During the nearly two months that Arrington had been available, he had found himself torn over his destination. According to sources close to Arrington, he had been uncertain about whether his best option was to accept a deal below top market value this season with the intention of both proving he was still an elite defensive player in 2006 and cashing in on a huge payday in 2007. Sources say he could have landed with his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers had he been willing to accept dramatically less money.

The second scenario, urged by his agents Kevin and Carl Poston, was to show he was still a top-market player by receiving a top-market contract. Arrington had wanted to be paid in the range of Poston client Julian Peterson, the San Francisco linebacker who signed a seven-year, $54 million contract with Seattle that contained $18.5 million in guaranteed money. Part of the reason it took so long for Arrington to sign, league observers said, was because teams that were interested in him were hesitant about paying him in that price range.

But ultimately, it appeared Arrington utilized both strategies. He had met with the Giants nearly two months ago and, sources said, maintained contact with them even when it appeared that the Giants were not interested. In addition, Arrington was willing to show the Giants his desire to play in New York. For example, sources said he volunteered to take a physical for the Giants before he had agreed in principle to a contract, a risky move that could have backfired.

Kevin Poston did not return calls for comment.

But Arrington had allies in New York, chief among them Antonio Pierce, the former Redskins middle linebacker who signed a free agent contract with the Giants before last season. Pierce made no secret that he lobbied hard for Arrington, and now the two ex-Redskins will anchor the Giants' linebacking corps.

That Arrington emerged from a free agent period rife with uncertainty with virtually all of his wishes, sources close to him said, validates him as a player and sets up an even more heightened level of intensity when the Giants and Redskins play. The first meeting will be Oct. 8 at New York. Arrington will make his return to FedEx Field in the primetime regular season finale Dec. 30.