ASHBURN, Va. -- 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," Redskins executive vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato said in a statement released by the team. "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 Redskins' first acknowledgment that they 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 team now have to be concerned that Campbell will feel as slighted by the Redskins as Cutler was with the Broncos. Cutler became disenchanted in Denver when he learned the Broncos had tried to trade for then-New England Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel, who later was shipped to the Kansas City Chiefs.
But 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, which is his last under his rookie contract.
"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 in an interview with The Washington Post after Friday's meeting. "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."
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
