Ellis Hobbs Shocked to Be Traded, Unhappy With Current Contract

Along with the 256 college players drafted last weekend, cornerback Ellis Hobbs also got a new home: the Patriots sent him to the Eagles for a pair of fifth-rounders. It was a surprising move, even for the trade-for-picks-happy Pats. Not only because cornerback was a liability last season in New England, but also because Hobbs is one of the best kick returners in the league.

The Patriots signed Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden this spring, and '08 second-rounder Terrence Wheatley will compete for playing time with his '09 counterpart, Darius Butler. Which made it easier to jettison Hobbs, despite the fact that he started every game the last two seasons.

Coincidentally, Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown said on Monday that he'd be in Philly for the start of the team's mandatory minicamp, even though he's looking for a new contract.

Hobbs, who will be reunited with former teammate Asante Samuel, admitted that he was shocked by the trade, but also conceded that the NFL is "a business" and these things happen. And while Hobbs hasn't said anything publicly about the Eagles re-working his deal, he made it clear that he's not happy about his current contract (he has one year left on his rookie deal):

"It is definitely frustrating when you see guys getting certain amounts of money that you know you can get just as much that you deserve. Especially, some of the situations that I've been in as far as playing through injuries, a torn shoulder, a torn groin all of the way throughout the season, and this and that.

To take some of the blows that I did from the area and the community and to put it on the line day in and day out when I know some other guys were not doing that and to get the money you get, you are definitely not happy with it. That is what it is and I am getting paid more than a lot of people in this world are and that will come."

During an appearance on ESPN's Cold Pizza 2.0, Hobbs did say that he regretted calling out Pats' fans. "I didn't handle that situation the right away, now looking back on it." And after telling Dana Jacobson he'd like to be a Disney animator one day, Hobbs answered the obvious follow-up: "If Bill Belichick was a Disney character, which would he be?"

"Bill gets a hard time amongst the media, amongst you guys, and in the public," he said. "If anything, I'd say he's like the Hunchback of Notre Dame without the face and the hunchback. Rough exterior, but he has a kind heart and he means well. He just goes about it differently. ... Everybody has him all wrong."

That might be the best description ever. "If had to compare Bill Belichick to a movie actor, I'd say Brad Pitt but two feet shorter and ugly. But on the inside, they're exactly the same." I take Hobbs' point, but still: classic.