Associated Press
ASHBURN, Va. ó Having failed to land Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos, the Washington Redskins worked Friday to mend fences with quarterback Jason Campbell.
“We met with Jason today and had a candid discussion,” executive vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato said in a statement. “We told Jason that when Jay Cutler became available, we, like many other NFL teams, spoke with the Broncos. We are all on the same page and we are moving forward.”
Cerrato’s statement was the team’s first acknowledgment that it had tried to acquire Cutler, who instead was traded Thursday by the Broncos to the Chicago Bears for a hefty price that included two first-round draft picks.
Cerrato, owner Dan Snyder and the Redskins now have to be concerned that Campbell will feel as slighted with the Redskins as Cutler was with the Broncos. Cutler became disenchanted in Denver when he learned the team had tried to trade for New England Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel.
Campbell said all the right things during the week, expressing in several interviews that he had confidence in his abilities, that he wanted to continue to help the Redskins win, and that he would use the trade talk as extra motivation for the upcoming season.
“I would say it was a very successful meeting because everyone expressed themselves and made it clear what we want to try to accomplish,” Campbell said. “We talked for a long time about everything that had happened and the thing I felt the best about was that I got a chance to talk about what I’m trying to do, which is just get ready for the season and try to help this team get to that higher level.”