Beathard Slams Door on Phillips : Football: Chargers make Phillips two-year offer, but he misses deadline to respond.

Charger General Manager Bobby Beathard said nose tackle Joe Phillips ignored the team’s signing deadline Wednesday and as a result will not play for the team this season.

He also said the team will not grant Phillips his outright release, thereby tying him to the team without the chance to play or be paid.

“It’s over,” Beathard said, while slamming the door on any possibility of Phillips’ return. “He’s not coming in. He never got back to us. . . . We go without Joe Phillips this season.”

Phillips reacted with shock to Beathard’s pronouncement. He had decided to accept Beathard’s two-year proposal, he said, but he had failed to inform Beathard of his decision in time.

“I accepted the deal,” Phillips said. “But I guess I called in three or four minutes late. It’s my daughter’s birthday and I was sitting with a bunch of kids trying to make a very tough decision.

“I was trying to find time to talk to my wife. Now this--it’s beyond me. If my hesitation cost me an opportunity to play, I guess the only person at fault is me.”

After hearing of Beathard’s announcement from a reporter that he would not be allowed to play for the team, Phillips tried to contact Beathard. He failed, and he also was unable to reach any of Beathard’s top lieutenants. Phillips then attempted to reach Beathard via Lee Hamilton on XTRA radio Wednesday night during the “Talk to the Chargers” segment.

Hamilton told Beathard that Phillips was holding on another line and that Phillips wished to plead his case with Beathard on the air. Beathard declined.

“The deadline is over,” Beathard said. “The Joe Phillips affair is over.”

The Chargers presented Phillips’ agents a two-year contract proposal Wednesday morning and attached a 4 p.m. take-it-or-leave-it deadline. The team offered to pay Phillips a base salary of $200,000 this season with the opportunity earn additional money in incentives.

The Chargers’ offer also called for a second year and a base pay of $550,000. Phillips earned a base salary of $485,000 last year--more than $600,000, including incentives.

“It was a big decision,” Phillips said. “It was a lot less money, but the biggest thing was the second year of the thing. Was I willing to commit myself to the Chargers for two years? I came up with the answer, ‘Yes.’ ”

Phillips, however, took too much time to make his decision, and the Chargers ran out of patience.

Beathard said the team received a call at 4:05 from Phillips’ agent requesting more time. The club extended the deadline 15 minutes and then made it an hour. But when they received no response, Beathard withdrew the offer and eliminated Phillips from the team’s plans.

Beathard said, “It’s hard to imagine, that with something as important as this, he wasn’t available. The deadline was ignored. We went an extra hour and got to the point where we said, ‘That’s it.’ ”

Beathard said the team will not consider giving Phillips his outright release until the end of the season, thereby forcing him to remain the property of the team without pay.

“I think he hurt the team,” Beathard said. “If teams are interested in him they can call us. But then that’s been the case since he began holding out and there hasn’t been any real interest.”

If Phillips is to win his freedom by a trade, a deal must be completed by 1 p.m. Oct. 13. If not, his rights remain the Chargers throughout the rest of the season.

It appears that Phillips and his representatives misjudged Beathard’s irritation and his concern about Phillips’ state of mind.

Beathard and Coach Bobby Ross discussed Phillips’ situation several times in the past few days. Not everyone wanted him back, although the team continues to have a pressing need at defensive tackle.

Ross and Beathard agreed to make a financial pitch, but they did so with the proviso that Phillips, a six-year veteran and a starter since 1987, demonstrate his commitment to the team by signing a two-year deal.

Phillips and his representatives should have expected as much, but they appeared surprised by the move. They continued to operate under the belief that the Chargers could not go on this season without Phillips. They pushed Beathard too far.

Beathard was asked if there was something that might change his mind to provide Phillips the chance to still return this season.

“I can’t think of any,” Beathard said.

Beathard has changed his mind in the past after declaring a negotiation finished, but he said, “This is different.”

What about Phillips’ future with the team?

“It doesn’t look like there is one,” Beathard said. “We’re going to put this behind us now and concentrate on Denver. We have the team to think about, and Joe will not be with us.”