If Leber's out, only an upgrade would suffice

No offense to Ben Leber, but it's pretty easy to figure the 32-year old weakside linebacker out — he's a role player.

The Vikings don't have a distinct advantage over their opponent with Leber manning that linebacker position, nor does Minnesota have a liability on its hands. Leber's average.

He has a specific skillset for the position, combined with a strong football IQ, which makes for a pretty reliable player. Leber has the athletic ability and agility to drop into coverage, run with tight ends and running backs in coverage and sit down in a zone and read the quarterback's eyes.

His five interceptions and 24 passes defensed in five seasons with the Vikings speak to that.

Leber has a knack for being around the football that's hard to put into words; you just see it. And when Leslie Frazier dialed up Leber on a blitz, he could knife through the holes when they were there, racking up 12 sacks and nine forced fumbles.

He's a crafty player that can do a lot of things well — nothing at an elite level.

But every team needs those kinds of veteran players. There's only so much of the payroll to go around, and you can't have an expensive defensive line and then pour money into all three linebacker positions — E.J. Henderson and Chad Greenway (soon enough) already will be making a pretty penny at the other two spots.

On third downs, in the nickel package, especially, Leber has value as a cover-man if the Vikings feel so inclined to do that instead of keeping the heftier Henderson in the game.

So when his fellow starter Chad Greenway appeared on KFAN last Wednesday, he may have seen the writing on the wall for Leber — who's a free agent to be, and who also saw his playing time diminish in 2010. The consensus seems to be that the number of snaps Leber saw playing time on was cut in half last year.

"Well, I hope he stays," Greenway said. I think he's a great player and certainly a great teammate. Would love to have him around for another few years, as long as he wants to play. The reality of that is certainly uncertain.

"I would say there is a better percentage of him not being here than him being here. But again, that's not my hope."

Greenway thinks his running mate isn't long for Minnesota. What the Vikings have to carefully consider before letting a glue guy like Leber go is: are we going to get better play out of the weakside linebacker position?

Erin Henderson, to me, is still an unknown commodity. Maybe Leslie Frazier sees him differently. And Ross Homan is a sixth-round pick who should be nothing more than a special teams player next season.

If Leber can come back at the right price, and there's no opportunity elsewhere in free agency to upgrade the position, then it comes down to Frazier's faith in the younger Henderson.

Because if Leber can stay in good shape and in good health, there's no reason to think he can't provide one or two more quality seasons for the Minnesota Vikings. That may be preferable, considering other positions need to be paid (Sidney Rice, cornerback, safety, a new contract for Adrian Peterson and maybe offensive line too).

Minnesota knows what it's going to get out of Ben Leber. I'm not sure why his playing time was cut last season, or why there seems to be little interest in retaining his services — the only reasonable expectation is that Frazier wants an upgrade at such an important position.

In his Cover-2 defense, the weakside linebacker is the position Derrick Brooks dominated at. He made all of the tackles, dropped into coverage and used his athleticism to race all over the field. Brooks was a perennial Pro-Bowler and All-Pro — the ideal for all cover-2 weakside linebackers to aspire to.