Interesting little story in the Newark Star-Ledger today. According to a report by Mike Garafolo, the New York Giants had negotiated with the Detroit Lions in order to move up and take Missouri wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.

The trade, of course, never happened because the Lions had the 20th pick and the Eagles made a deal with the Cleveland Browns to move from 21st to 19th and they took Maclin. Garafolo said his source was "somewhat briefed on the negotiations" between the Giants and Lions. We have to assume that it was someone from the Giants because the writer later says the person requested anonymity because the Giants don't publicly disclose what goes on in their draft room.

Detroit ended up keeping the 20th overall pick and took tight end Brandon Pettigrew and the Giants drafted North Carolina wide receiver with the 29th pick.

If this has a familiar ring to it, then you probably remember the 2003 draft and realize that moving up for a player definitely doesn't guarantee success. The Eagles made a deal with the San Diego Chargers in 2003 to move up from 30th overall to the 15th pick, then took defensive end Jerome McDougle.

A couple days later, former Giants general manager Ernie Acorsi confirmed that his team had a deal in place with Kansas City for the 16th overall pick and planned to take McDougle. Sometimes, the best deals are the ones that don't get done, although the Giants selected McDougle's Miami teammate William Joseph that year and the defensive tackle also ended up being a bust.

The P.S. to the story: Kansas City traded the 16th pick to Pittsburgh, which took safety Troy Polamalu and the Chiefs moved down to 27th overeall and got running back Larry Johnson.

Donovan McNabb is back blogging this morning.

After first talking about how much he has enjoyed his offseason, the Eagles' quarterback addressed football issues and he sounded like a pretty happy guy.

"You'll notice that I am ready to move forward," he said. "I'm the first to admit that you must learn from your failures, I also believe that you cannot change the past. It's time to focus on the future."

And McNabb's football future starts with Friday's first post-draft minicamp at the NovaCare Complex.

"As with every minicamp since I've been in the league, I'm excited about meeting my new teammates, getting to know them and working together on the field," McNabb blogged. "We now have a lot of new, young skill position players and it will be exciting and interesting to see how they become acclimated to what we do here. If they can come in here and take their game to the next level, they will be productive pros and we can achieve great successes together. I want to welcome the new rookies and am excited to get to work with them.

"I haven't taken the time yet to welcome some of the veteran free agents to the team. I'm looking forward to working with a new set of bookends on the o-line. Stacey Andrews and Jason Peters are young, athletic and physical. They will help in both the passing and running game. The same can be said for fullback Leonard Weaver. As for the additions on defense - Ellis Hobbs, Rashad Baker, and Sean Jones - I can't wait to see how Jim Johnson uses all the talent he has at his disposal. I want to congratulate all the newcomers and let them know that I am excited to be working with them and taking the first step towards moving forward and getting something accomplished.

"Make no mistake, I've been training like crazy to make sure that I can improve as a quarterback and do everything necessary to try and win a championship for this city," McNabb said. "I said it before, I was inspired by the way the Phillies won the World Series and how they were treated by the City and their fans and I want to experience that myself in the worst way."

 As for the personal side of the quarterback's life, he said he's been working on being a day out in Arizona.

"It's been a terrific offseason for me," he said. "I have spent most of my time in Arizona with my wife and three kids. Having a chance to be a dad - going to my daughter's soccer games and dance recitals, and seeing the babies grow and develop; there is nothing better than that. I am truly blessed and fortunate that the American Diabetes Association will honor me and two other men in June as Father of the Year. But I'm not the only McNabb that is blessed...Saturday night my parents will be honored by the Allied Athlete Group in Atlanta for their work with the Professional Football Players Mothers and National Football Players Fathers Associations. And on Saturday my wife will hold her annual Philadelphia Community Baby Shower for expectant mothers.

Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown still isn't happy about his contract situation and he has no regrets about going public with his trade request a week ago today.

That doesn't mean he's about to boycott the team's mandatory post-draft camp at the NovaCare Complex that opens Friday.

"Yeah, I'll be there," Brown said before boarding a plane in South Carolina this afternoon.

The Eagles' veteran cornerback said he has no intention of being a disruptive force in the locker room.

"I didn't become a villain all of a sudden," he said. "I'm a professional. I've been in contact with Troy (Vincent)."

At the end of Vincent's eight-year run as a starting cornerback with the Eagles, he was unhappy about his contract situation, but he never protested by missing practice time during the offseason or training camp. Some players in the past -- Duce Staley, Bobby Taylor and Lito Sheppard -- have attended the team's mandatory post-draft camp, then skipped voluntary workouts later in the spring.

After this weekend's mandatory camp, the voluntary full-squad workouts are scheduled from June 2-5 and 8-11.

Brown was asked about a comment he made last week on 610 WIP radio in which he said, "They don't want me in that locker room."

"You can take that in another light," he said. "I'm the leader on the football team and it's bad for players to see me in a situation where I'm not happy. But I'm not going to blow up the NovaCare Complex. I'm not going to be one of the guys who puts on show week in and week out when the media comes to my locker."

Brown said he's also not worried about having to compete for a starting job with Ellis Hobbs, who the Eagles acquired for two fifth-round draft picks yesterday.

"I've always competed for my job," he said. "That doesn't matter to me. I have respect for Ellis. He's a guy who has played through injuries like me. He tore up his groin and didn't miss any time. He's a hard worker and he's trying to establish himself."

Eagles coach Andy Reid said Sunday he didn't feel the need to explain the acquisition of Hobbs to Brown.

"Well I am not going to go through and call every player here," Reid said. "I can't do that. He knows he is on the team, so I don't feel it's necessary to do that."

Brown, who has four years left on a six-year contract extension he signed in 2004, said he didn't need a call from Reid.

"Coach knows me," he said. "That doesn't need to be done. You don't have to do that kind of stuff."

When the dust had settled, the Eagles had drafted eight players, made six trades and added three picks for next season.

We won't know the impact of all these moves for quite some time, but the first look at coach Andy Reid's 2009 Eagles will come Friday when the team opens a mandatory post-draft camp at the NovaCare Complex.

The most significant move on the second day of the draft was the deal that sent two fifth-round picks to the New England Patriots for veteran cornerback/kick returner Ellis Hobbs.

Cornelius Ingram, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound tight end from Florida, was the Eagles' first pick on the second day of the draft and he's also the one most likely to have some sort of impact as a rookie. Playing in the Gators' spread offense, he caught 64 passes for 888 yards and eight touchdowns during his career. He did not play at all last season while recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. He admitted that blocking is not his strength.

"I think I am definitely more of a vertical tight end, a receiver tight end because of the style of offense we ran at Florida," Ingram said. "I know I didn't do a whole lot of blocking ... but I know I can do it and I know I can stretch the field, so I am just ready to start."

The Eagles also took Virginia Tech cornerback Victor Harri and Oregon offensive tackle Fenuki Tupou with fifth-round picks. Reid said Harris, 5-11  and 187 pounds, can play both cornerback and safety. Tupou, 6-5 and 314 pounds, is a potential backup tackle or guard.

With their only sixth-round selection, the Eagles took wide receiver Brandon Gibson from Washington State. Gibson caught 182 passes for a school-record 2,756 yards. He also scored 17 touchdowns.

Guard Paul Fanaika from Arizona State and linebacker Moise Fokou from Maryland were seventh-round selections.

The Eagles did not draft a defensive lineman for the first time since 2004 and selected just two defensive players overall, the fewest since 2001.

HAPPY QB. Eagles coach Andy Reid said he talked to Donovan McNabb during the draft and the quarterback was happy with the team's acquistions. He said he didn't discuss the quarterback's contract.

"I didn't ask him about (the contract)," Reid said. "He was very interested in the draft, which he is every year. We talked during the draft."

One day after saying he felt Sheldon Brown would take a professional approach to his bitter contract dispute with the Eagles, coach Andy Reid acquired a veteran cornerback.

The Eagles sent two fifth-round picks -- 137 and 141 overall -- to New England for Ellis Hobbs, a former third-round pick who was a starter for the Patriots in 2007 and 2008.

The addition of Hobbs gives the Eagles both of New England's starting cornerbacks from the team that went 16-0 in the regular season two years ago. The other, of course, is Asante Samuel, who signed a $57 million deal with the Eagles as a free agent before the 2008 season.

Hobbs, who turns 26 next month, has nine career interceptions, including three last season.

According to an Eagles source, this move does not mean the Eagles are going to trade Brown, who went public with a trade request Monday and made some strong statements in various media outlets the remainder of the week.

Like Brown, Hobbs said he isn't thrilled about his own contract. Hobbs, however, has just one year left on his rookie five-year contract with the Patriots. He will make $2.545 million in 2009.

"It's definitely frustrating when you see guys making certain amounts of money that you think you should get just as well and you deserve," Hobbs said. "That's especially true with some of the injuries I've played through: a torn shoulder, a torn groin. To take some of the blows I did from (Patriots fans) and to put it on the line day in and day out when I know some of the guys weren't doing that and to get the money I was getting, you're definitely not happy with it. It is what it is and I'm getting paid more than a lot of people in this world, so that will come."

Hobbs said he would be willing to extend his relationship beyond one season with the Eagles.

"If we can make this my home, I would definitely love to be here," he said. "I know it's not going to come easy. You have to go out there and prove it. Nobody wants a paper champ. These guys have seen me and the coaches said every time they watch film, there I am showing up and making plays."

The Eagles have traded out of the third round, sending the 91st overall pick to the Seattle Seahawks, continuing a chain of events that started with them dealing the 85th overall pick to the New York Giants earlier this morning.

In exchange for the 85th pick, they received the Giants' third-round pick -- 91st overall -- and a fifth-round selection, the 164th overall pick. The Seahawks gave the Eagles the first pick in the fifth round -- 137 overall -- and a seventh-round selection -- 213 overall -- in this year's draft and a third-round selection in next year's draft.

The Eagles now have six fifth-round picks in this year's draft. They do not have a fourth-round selection.

Don't be surprised if they use their extra third-round pick in next year's draft to make a trade with Denver for tight end Tony Scheffler. The teams have talked about a deal and the Eagles told the Broncos they would be interested depending on what they do in this draft.

The Giants used the 85th pick on Ramses Barrden, a wide receiver from Cal-Poly, and Seattle used the 91st pick to get Penn State wide receiver Deon Butler.

The Eagles made a trade with the Cleveland Browns for a wide receiver after all, moving up two spots in order to select Missouri's Jeremy Maclin.

In order to get Maclin with the 19th pick, the Eagles dealt their first-round pick and a sixth-round selection, the 195th pick overall. He is just the second receiver the Eagles have taken in the first round during coach Andy Reid's tenure. The other was Freddie Mitchell in  2001.

Reid said the Eagles didn't expect Maclin to be available when it was their turn to make a pick.

"Actually, we thought he was going to go quite a little bit higher than he did," Reid said. "This was not who we had targeted. He just happened to be one of those guys who fell a little bit and he kind of fell into our lap there."

Maclin, 20, set a single-season school record for receptions with 102 and yards with 1,260. He also scored 13 touchdowns. In addition to his ability as a receiver, Maclin will likely take over as the Eagles' kick returner, a role he did extremely well at Missouri. His 1,346 kick return yards as a freshman were two shy of an NCAA record.

"I just love doing it," Maclin said when asked about returning kicks. "I put a lot of work and film study into it in order to be successful."

Maclin, who declared for the draft after just two seasons at Missouri, was just the third player in NCAA history to average more than 200 all-purpose yards per game. 

The people's choice in Philadelphia ended up being the Denver Broncos' choice with the 12th overall pick.

Denver, in somewhat of a surprise, took Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno, who was considered by many to be a perfect fit for the Eagles' system.

While that might be bad news for Eagles fans, it might even be worse news for former Eagles running back Correll Buckhalter, who had been first on the Broncos' depth chart after signing with them as a free agent in March. Buckhalter could again find himself as a backup, a role he played with the Eagles his entire career.

Two trade possibilities involving the Eagles floated in the hours before the Detroit Lions made Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford the first pick in the NFL draft.

One had the Eagles getting Cleveland wide receiver Braylon Edwards and the fifth overall pick for Shawn Andrews, Sheldon Brown and the 21st overall pick.

That is so ridiculous it's funny.

The other story came from the Denver Post and said the Eagles have inquired about the availability of Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler. An Eagles source said the Broncos actually called them about dealing Scheffler. The source said the Eagles could have interest in Scheffler based on what they do in the draft in regards to picking a tight end.

We'll be back later with more draft stuff.