Chargers’ Butts Seeks A New Deal : Football: Running back says he won’t report to camp unless contract is renegotiated.

Marion Butts, the NFL’s leading rusher in 1990 until injuring a foot and missing the final two games, has advised the Chargers he will not report to training camp, and if necessary, will sit out the season if his contract is not redone.

“As of now, until something is done, Marion will not be there,” said Mike Merkow, Butts’ agent.

Butts and an independent-minded Leslie O’Neal were the only veterans to bypass the team’s voluntary June practice sessions. Merkow said Butts was a no-show because the team has refused to renegotiate his contract.

General Manager Bobby Beathard, however, said the club will not renegotiate with Butts.

“I’ve been told by the agent that he’s not coming to training camp unless we do something,” Beathard said. “I told him he’s making a big, big mistake, and if he thinks we’re going to cave into this, he’s nuts. We’re not.

“No, no, we won’t redo it. It’s the wrong time to do it. We want to take care of Marion, but we’ve entered into an agreement and we expect him to live by it. We will.”

Merkow said the Chargers “told us they would possibly suspend Marion. Marion knows what his options are and he knows he can be fined and suspended. We’ll just have to wait until July 15th when camp opens and see what he’s going to do.”

Butts was en route from his home in Georgia to San Diego Tuesday. However, in a telephone conversation last week, he said he wanted to work things out with the team so he could report to camp on time. He said he would explain himself further in a press conference later this week.

Butts earned $417,500 last season, including a base pay of $195,000 and substantial incentives for gaining a club-record 1,225 yards.

He has three years remaining on a contract that was redone on Beathard’s initiative before last season. Butts was paid a little more than $100,000 in 1989 after replacing running back Gary Anderson, who sat out the season in a contract dispute.

Beathard improved Butts’ contract last season because, Beathard said, Butts had not received a fair deal from the team.

Butts accepted the contract and said at the time, “They didn’t have to do that. Everybody makes mistakes in life, and I signed that contract. I agreed to it, and when you do that, you have to live up to your responsibilities.”

Merkow said, however, that Butts signed the new deal with the Chargers last year only after being advised by Beathard in a meeting that another great season would prompt an even better contract.

“We were led to believe that if Marion had a great year he would be taken care of; that was a part of his decision in signing the contract extension,” Merkow said. “What do you think that means? Forty-seven guys patting Marion on the back and telling him, ‘Good job?’

“We’re talking renegotiation. We haven’t put a dollar figure on what we do want; we just want to sit down with Bobby and talk about it.”

Beathard said he made no such promise to Merkow and Butts. He said Merkow acknowledged as much to him in a recent meeting between the two.

“This was all orchestrated (by Merkow),” Beathard said. “There’s no doubt in my mind. . . . He said Butts absolutely won’t be here, and he said, ‘I have nothing to do with this. This is all Butts.’ I said, ‘Mike, come on.’ ”

Merkow said Butts will decide what his future with the Chargers will be.

“I don’t have any magical spell over my guys,” Merkow said. “It would take one helluva orchestra leader to talk someone into holding out and losing X amount of dollars for no reason. I don’t make the decisions. This will be Marion’s decision.”

Merkow met recently with Coach Dan Henning but did not draw a sympathetic response. Henning said he has been impressed with the off-season work of Ronnie Harmon and Rod Bernstine, and he’s eager to take a closer look at rookie running back Eric Bieniemy.

“We have two guys, Harmon and Bernstine, who were here every day for summer school,” Henning said. “It’s a bad time to do something like this. Both players looked as good as they have looked, and this isn’t a position of need like when Marion got the opportunity as a rookie.”

When the Chargers reached a contract impasse in 1989 with Anderson, who was a free agent, Butts became the team’s featured runner. After sitting out a season, Anderson was dealt to Tampa Bay.

Butts, unlike Anderson, is under contract and will be subject to fines if he does not report to training camp. If Butts is suspended, he will not be eligible to rejoin the team in 1991.

Beathard was general manager of the Redskins in 1980 when running back John Riggins reported to training camp demanding more money. When the club refused to renegotiate his deal, he left.

The Redskins did not suspend Riggins, but he opted to sit out the season. He returned in 1981 and filed a grievance against the team. He lost the grievance and played for the same amount of money he was to have received in 1980.

Last year, Charger defensive end Lee Williams left camp after Beathard refused to redo his contract. He returned a few days later, fired his agent and hired Merkow, who negotiated a new contract for Williams later in the season.

“I was also told (by Merkow) you guys are really going to get it by the fans in this city for not doing something for Marion,” Beathard said. “I said we’ll take our chances because we intend to take care of Marion, but on our terms. Not yours.

“If you can pick a wrong way to do it, this is the wrong way to do it. I’ve talked with him (Merkow), and I’m upset by this. We’ve discussed it here, and if that’s the way they want to do it, I feel badly for Marion. I think the person getting hurt in this is obvious; it’s Marion.”

Charger Notes

General Manager Bobby Beathard said the team has reached contract agreements with seventh-round draft pick Terry Beauford (guard) and 12th-round selection Chris Samuels (running back). . . . The Chargers have 74 players under contract and 94 players on their roster. They are allowed to carry only 80 signed players into training camp and will have to begin cutting players as draft choices and free agents come to terms. . . . Nose tackle Tony Savage underwent knee surgery recently and is not expected to be ready to participate in training camp. . . . Starting cornerback Sam Seale and backup corner Donald Frank continue to recover from shoulder surgery and are not expected to rejoin the team until the third exhibition game. . . . The Chargers will report to their UCSD training camp site Sunday and practice for the first time at 9 a.m. Monday.