Spanos Stays Out of Smith Talks

Charger owner Alex Spanos refused Saturday to get involved in the negotiation of Billy Ray Smith’s contract, even though Smith’s agent asked several times to meet with him.

Smith’s agent, George Kalafaitis, said he visited with Steve Ortmayer, Charger director of football operations, late Friday night and came away thinking that Ortmayer “didn’t have the authority to finalize the deal.”

So he asked Ortmayer for a meeting with Spanos.

“(Ortmayer) told me Alex had no interest in talking about the contract,” Kalafaitis said. “He’d visit with me, but he wouldn’t negotiate. Alex said that was Steve’s job. . . . Well, if he can’t meet with me, my suggestion is that they trade Billy Ray Smith.”

Ortmayer, who says he indeed has the authority to make a deal, said there were no plans to trade Smith, 26, a linebacker who led the team with 110 tackles last season.

According to Spanos, Kalafaitis is asking for too much money. A year ago, Smith made $450,000.

“We’ve been moving up and moving up, and there’s been no end to his (Kalafaitis’) demands,” Spanos said Saturday. “Billy Ray is an example of what we want on our ballclub. He’s super. And Steve has gone where he’s gone (with his offers) because it’s Billy Ray. He’s a great kid, not just a great linebacker. But we’ve got to stop someplace. From what Steve indicates, things don’t look good.”

Said Ortmayer: “We made a hellacious offer. . . . The ball’s in their court.”