The 27-year-old has today told the club he will now nominate for the 2009 pre-season draft.
“Naturally we are disappointed and some of our fans will be as well but we could not reach an agreement with Adam. We offered him a very good two-year deal that we believe was more than fair,” Hamilton said.
""We have an obligation to deliver our fans a period of sustained success and we were not prepared to compromise our strategy.
“Adam leaving opens the door for a young player like David Myers, Cale Hooker, Darcy Daniher or Michael Still to really grab their opportunity and cement a place in the senior team next year.
“We only want players here that want to play for this club and Adam has decided he doesn’t want to be part of this emerging playing group.”
To listen to Hamilton discuss the McPhee decision on SEN click here.
Essendon will now use a pick (No.9) in the 2009 pre-season draft.
The club has four picks in next week’s national draft (No. 10, 24, 26, 33).
