Detroit Lions president Rod Wood said Wednesday he believes the rift between the team and retired receiver Calvin Johnson eventually will be mended.
Johnson, who told the Free Press in May that he was not happy with the way he was treated when he retired in 2016, last week made comments in Italy that suggested he left the game because he was frustrated with the Lions' inability to contend for a Super Bowl.
Wood on Monday told the team's flagship radio station, WJR-AM (760), that he has invited Johnson to attend training camp this summer. But Wood gave no indication of whether he felt Johnson would accept the invitation.
"As I said on WJR, we had a very nice, cordial exchange," Wood said during a tour of Ford Field's $100-million renovations. "I'm hoping he comes. I'm not going to say anymore beyond that. I do have confidence it'll work out ultimately."
One day after troubled defensive end Armonty Bryant was suspended by the NFL for the third time in a year and will miss the first four regular-season games, Wood indicated little about Bryant's future with the team.
"I don't know much more about it than was reported," he said. "It is what it is."
Wood said even less about quarterback Matthew Stafford, who likely is due to land a contract extension with the Lions that is expected to pay him an NFL-record $26-million average annual salary.
"We're not talking anything about Matthew today," Wood said.
