Source: Giants consider trading Hakeem Nicks

Hakeem Nicks is not buying the idea that the Giants might be selling. But a source familiar with the team's thinking said consideration is being given to moving the wide receiver before next week's NFL trading deadline.

Asked where on the spectrum between "ludicrous" and "imminent" the Giants are regarding a deal, the source said: "Probably right in the middle."

That's a far cry from ruling it out, but it also doesn't mean Nicks needs to pack his bags just yet. And although the team is open to the idea, the source does not think Nicks will be traded.

Nicks is in the last year of his contract and has been the subject of trade speculation during the last few weeks. That banter has only grown with each Giants loss and each step closer to irrelevance.

The logic is that the Giants won't re-sign Nicks this offseason anyway, so why not ship him to a contender and pick up a draft pick for next year's rebuilding project?

Nicks said though he has heard the rumblings, he has yet to hear anything official from the team.

"I ain't gonna lie and say I haven't heard it, but I'm not listening to it," he said. "I'm not buying into it . . . I'm sure they've got enough respect for me to come to me and talk to me about a situation like that."

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Still, these things can happen quickly, and Nicks would have no control over the situation. He acknowledged that aspect of the business. That's why he had to couch anything that came close to a definitive statement about his future with the team.

"As of right now, I'm a Giant, and I'm going to continue to play for the Giants as long as I'm here," he said.

Asked if he thinks he will finish the 2013 season with the team, Nicks said: "To my knowledge."

The Giants rarely pull off in-season trades -- before they acquired Jon Beason earlier this month, their last one was for Ottis Anderson in 1986 -- but they also are rarely 0-6. Trading Nicks would send a signal that the Giants are giving up on this season and starting to look toward next year.

The Giants' locker room seems to have survived the slow start to the season. Trading a key offensive player -- or any of the other veterans who might become flotsam from this wreckage -- could be enough to fracture it.

"No question it would blow me away just to know that guys that we needed could be gone tomorrow," veteran running back Brandon Jacobs said. "Depending on the person, it could be a dagger . . . It'll hurt. It'll definitely hurt with us being in this vulnerable state that we're in now."

And as the Giants continue to point out, they still have a chance to come back and win the NFC East.

"Why would we want to trade anyone?" Antrel Rolle asked. "This season's not over for us."

Nicks said he doesn't believe that any players on the Giants would ask to be traded, himself included. "I don't think we got no quitters in this locker room," he said.

Until the trade deadline passes Oct. 29, or if the Giants win their two games between now and then, trade winds likely will blow through the locker room. Nicks said he'll do his best to ignore them until he hears something official.

"At the end of the day, business is business, but I haven't been getting any whiffs of anything my way," he said. "As far as outside talk, I can't control that. But I'm a Giant. I'm a Giant right now. I'm going to enjoy it."

For as long as it lasts.