"This gives us some depth at the cornerback position," the Eagles head coach said at his post-draft news conference. "[Hobbs] has been a starting cornerback for the Patriots for the last 3 years. We got a good quality player. You can't have enough corners in this league. So we wanted to make sure we addressed that and brought in a veteran player.
"This doesn't have anything to do with Sheldon's situation or anything else. So we don't even need to go there with that. This is a quality player that we had an opportunity to get and we chose to do so."
And isn't this just going to make next weekend's mandatory minicamp at the NovaCare Complex a cozy little get-together, assuming Sheldon decides to attend.
Reid said he "would expect" Brown to be there. As of yesterday, Sheldon said he still hadn't made up his mind. Knowing Brown and his commitment to his teammates, my money's on him being there. But where this soap opera is headed, God only knows.
Banner already has gone on record as saying the Eagles have no interest in trading the 30-year-old cornerback. But Brown, who has been the Eagles' starting right corner since 2004, is hopeful that the team's acquisition of Hobbs is an indication they are willing to move him. Brown told the Daily News that he has heard that "the Eagles are saying no to everyone who asks" about him.
"Over the next few months, if they got an offer, they would be in a position [now] to trade me," he said. "It's a good thing from that perspective. It gives me more hope."
Brown's pal Lito Sheppard had similar hope last year after the Eagles signed Asante Samuel. He thought they would trade him. He thought wrong. He ended up rotting on the bench and wasn't even activated for the NFC Championship Game.
