I agree. Not a huge fan of Samuel (I think he's good, but not for the amount of money he's going to get), and I do think that you could make an argument that, in the types of defense that the Pats like to play, Hobbs is nearly as good.
Now be fair. I didn't actually say Cromartie was better. I said ARGUABLY. Given that he was a rookie and mostly made his name off of an awful game by Manning and a long return of a field goal, I would probably slot him in the "too soon to tell" pile, although I think he had a better overall year than Samuel did.
As for the notion of Samuel being a goner, I look at past history. Ty Law was a far better player than Samuel, but he didn't get the cash from BB (it was there from the previous era). If Samuel wants to squeeze out every dollar, I expect he'll be playing for someone besides the Patriots next season.