According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, running back Cedric Benson is in Green Bay and expected to sign a deal with the Packers.
Benson played three seasons with the Chicago Bears, who selected him out of Texas with the No. 4 pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. Benson had spent the last four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, rushing for a career-high 1,251 yards in 2009. He has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of the last three seasons, but will turn 30 in December.
The Packers' interest may stem from a less-than-stellar training camp from starter James Starks, a former seventh-round draft pick who has rushed for 679 yards in two seasons. He ran five times for 16 yards in yesterday's 21-13 preseason loss to the Chargers.
Backing up Starks is Alex Green, who missed his entire rookie season last year with a torn ACL. The former third-round draft pick has deemed himself 100 percent healthy, but is more of an East-West runner and pass catcher out of the backfield.
The Packers had also looked at undrafted rookie Marc Tyler, a former-five star recruit who attended Southern California.
But in Benson, the Packers have a low-risk, high reward North-South runner. It's likely his contract is not guaranteed, giving Green Bay two weeks to audition Benson in their offense.
What's interesting is that Benson got the call before Ryan Grant, a current free agent who played the last five seasons in Green Bay.