Brian Westbrook Drawing Interest from Green Bay Packers

Over a month after being released by the Philadelphia Eagles, we had heard nothing about Brian Westbrook other than the teams that were coming out and saying they were not interested in the oft-injured running back.

Now, however, a team has finally made their interest, however slight, in the running back public.

The Green Bay Packers, according to several reports, are considering Westbrook as an option as a third-down back and a guy who would split time with Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson. Grant and Jackson are serviceable catching the ball out of the backfield, but neither can read and pick up a blitz like Westbrook.

And if that Packers offensive line is anything like it was last year, they’ll need a guy who can pick up pressure. He would also be used as a receiving threat much in the same way he was used in Philadelphia.

Green Bay would be a natural fit for Westbrook since the offensive philosophy is basically the same, and the Packers would be getting an experienced leader for a bottom-barrel price. They seem to be the only team interested in Westbrook’s services, so they could probably get him for their price and not a penny more.

It is a bit disconcerting, however, that even Westbrook’s former coaches don’t want him. Brad Childress, now in Minnesota, and Jon Harbaugh, now in Baltimore, both publicly said they weren’t interested in Westbrook joining their new teams.

Their statements were filled with a lot of fluff, but it was easy to see that they, like their former boss Andy Reid, don’t believe Westbrook has anything left to offer.

It’s a low-risk signing, so it wouldn’t surprise me if this deal came together. The Packers will most likely bring Westbrook in for a physical and run all sorts of tests on him before they even consider offering him a deal, so it could be a drawn-out process.

They will have their doctors poking and prodding him until they’re 100 percent positive that Westbrook isn’t entirely broken down, but I’m not sure they, or Westbrook, will like what they find.

UPDATE: Adam Schefter has confirmed this report.