Smith Doesn’t Know If He’ll Be Back : Chargers: Linebacker, in the final stage of his five-year contract, says he’s “a pretty good candidate” for Plan B free agency.

A limping Billy Ray Smith was not in uniform Sunday, and although he remains committed to the Chargers’ cause, he said he wouldn’t be surprised if he’s wearing a different uniform next season.

Smith, in the final season of a five-year contract, has been bothered in recent years with a series of injuries, including a swollen calf that kept him out of the Miami game.

“I think I’m a pretty good candidate for Plan B (free agency) with my injury situation,” said Smith, 30. “It’s really hard to say. You don’t know if there’s going to be a coaching change and who that guy is going to be and whether he’s a guy who wants an old Billy Ray Smith around or not.

“That’s understandable. Stranger things have happened than putting me on Plan B. They (49ers) put Ronnie Lott on Plan B.”

General Manager Bobby Beathard said the team has not determined which 37 players will be protected in preparation for Feb. 1, the deadline for Plan B free agency.

“I think this is something that’s up to Billy,” Beathard said. “He’s the one that can judge if he feels he can continue and continue at a high level. Maybe at this stage of his career, or maybe the way the game is played now, guys don’t have to play every down. It’s become a league of role players on defense.

“As far as protecting or not protecting a player, I haven’t given that any thought. But I would say right now we’d want him back.”

Beathard had concerns earlier this year if there was any more football left in Smith. Linebacker Henry Rolling appeared to have more speed and wallop, but then Smith was playing hurt.

“When Billy got healthy we looked back and thought that maybe we were too quick to judge him,” Beathard said. “When he’s healthy, he has a knack of making plays. He has a value to this team that sometimes it goes beyond what his actual on-the-field performance is.”

If the Chargers protect Smith, he will need a new contract.

“I could see some kind of deal where we’ll pay Billy this much if he’s injured,” said an understanding Smith. “If he’s playing well and he’s healthy, we’ll pay him like a starter. I think that’s the way it should be anyway.”

Smith wondered earlier this season, like Beathard, if it was time to call it quits after struggling to overcome a lingering knee injury. But Smith, who had become healthy, had enjoyed success in the past few weeks before the ankle and calf injuries.

“When I was healthy again, I think I played pretty damn well,” said Smith. “So I don’t think I’m done by any stretch of the imagination.”

Smith and cornerback Gill Byrd were Charger first-round picks in 1983, and they have been with the team longer than any other player now on the roster. Many teams leave veteran players such as Smith, who command large salaries, unprotected believing no other team will bid for their services.

The Chargers are also aware that Smith has roots here. Kimberly Hunt, his wife, has three years remaining on her contract with Channel 10. He and Hunt are expecting their first child in February.

“Plan B is the one phase of this game that you have to look at as a business,” Smith said. “That’s the one opportunity you have, in an otherwise anti-trust and non-competitive type of situation, to finally go out and see what you’re worth. Not to take advantage of it would be kind of crazy.

“It would be hard to envision myself in another uniform. I have a lot of strong ties here,” he said. “But that’s just part of the game. My dad (Billy Ray Smith Sr.) wore three different uniforms in his 13 years in the game.”