Chargers to Protect Graham on Plan B List : Pro football: Sam Seale and Martin Bayless, both starters on defense, do not make the list of those players protected.

Jeff Graham has spent three seasons on NFL rosters, the first two on Cleveland’s and the last one on . . . the Chargers’. Yes, Graham is one of Chargers’ three quarterbacks, and no matter how anonymous, Bobby Beathard knows who he is.

Beathard, Charger general manager, said Friday that Graham will be one of 37 protected players on the Chargers’ Plan B roster that they will submit to the league office today. Two players that won’t be protected are starting cornerback Sam Seale and starting strong safety Martin Bayless.

“I wish I was going to be here to see the team turn around, but I guess San Diego is going to go in a different direction,” said Seale, an eight-year veteran who has started for most of his four seasons with the Chargers. “Maybe they’re interested in younger and more physical guys. I wish them well.”

Although linebackers Billy Ray Smith and Gary Plummer might have been considered candidates for Plan B, Beathard said both veterans will be protected. Smith and Plummer might be less attractive to other teams because of their age, history of injuries and their salary. Smith, 30, makes $525,000 and Plummer, 32, makes $325,000. Both players are free agents.

Players not protected are free to sign with other teams--without compensation to their previous employers--from today until April 1.

Graham spent his rookie year on Cleveland’s developmental squad, his second on the Browns’ injured list, and most of his last season on the Chargers’ developmental squad. Graham’s only professional playing time came in the World League of American Football last year for the New York/New Jersey Knights. He completed 58% of his passes for 2,407 yards and eight touchdowns.

But his WLAF stint and strong arm have convinced the Chargers that Graham is worth protecting in Plan B free agency.

“We like Jeff a lot,” Beathard said. “He’s a big, strong kid that can throw the ball.”

Graham wanted to play for Knights again this season, but the Chargers told him he should stay in town and attend mini-camps in April and May.

“I think that means I will be protected,” said Graham, who was a fourth-round pick out of Cal State Long Beach in 1989 by Washington Redskins.

Graham is one of three quarterbacks on the Chargers’ roster, along with starter John Friesz and Bob Gagliano. Although Gagliano, 31, was Friesz’s backup last year and has started 12 games in his NFL career, his roster spot is hardly secure. He played in parts of two games last year--completing nine of 23 passes for 76 yards with an interception. Beathard said he had not yet decided whether to protect Gagliano.

Beathard said the thought of Friesz getting hurt is not a pleasant one.

“We would feel more comfortable if we knew we had a guy behind Friesz that can come in and win games for us,” Beathard said. “Our intent was to find that out last preseason. But Bob didn’t get a lot of playing time in preseason.”

Graham figures to be one of the few project players the Chargers keep. Beathard said the club protected too many unproven players last year, such as tackle Dean Brown, who was cut in the exhibition season.

“We protected a guy last year that we probably shouldn’t have,” Beathard said. “There really wasn’t a good enough reason to protect him. We got excited about him and he didn’t pan out. Unless you have a strong feelings about what a guy’s going to do and he hasn’t played yet, it’s pretty tough to protect him.”

The Chargers have signed 28 players since Plan B began three years ago. Nine are still on the team--running back Ronnie Harmon, kicker John Carney, punter John Kidd, linebackers Henry Rolling and Galand Thaxton, tackle Harry Swayne, long-snapper Mark Rodenhauser, Gagliano, offensive lineman Mark May and safety Darren Carrington. Beathard said he is not optimistic about bringing in quality Plan B players this year.

“It might be getting a little harder to come up with good guys in Plan B because teams are doing a better job protecting them,” he said. “When it first started, I think some people were naive around the league, not really realizing how aggressively some teams would go after people.”

Beathard said he was surprised how aggressively Cleveland went after linebacker Richard Brown last year. Brown was one of the Chargers’ better special-teams players, but was left unprotected.

“Cleveland came by and gave him something he couldn’t refuse,” Beathard said. “He ended up (starting) in Cleveland. It was really the best thing for him.”

Although he would not admit to making any serious blunders in Plan B last year, Beathard said letting wide receiver Quinn Early go might have been a mistake. Early caught 32 passes for 541 yards with the New Orleans Saints last year. In three seasons with the Chargers, Early caught 40 passes for 501 yards.

The Chargers attempted to replace Early by drafting Yancey Thigpen in the fourth round and trading Lee Williams to Houston for Shawn Jefferson. But Thigpen did not a catch a pass and Jefferson had trouble learning the offense and caught only 12 passes.

“Either he’s really that good or our evaluation was wrong,” Beathard said. “He didn’t do enough here after that first year where anybody on the staff felt that he was a person we could afford to protect. (The Saints) got a lot out of him. We didn’t get as much out of Quinn Early as we wanted to.”