Everyone knows the deal. Domenik Hixon harkened back to the days when he first entered the NFL and his agent told him that it's a business and not take anything personally. Steve Smith grins and shrugs off questions from family and friends who read reports.

"People call you, family, friends," he said. "`You getting traded?' I'm just like, 'Hey, I'm just coming to work every day.' We joke in the locker room, but you can't really worry about that stuff."

They're talking about the possibility of the Giants acquiring a big-name wide receiver in the coming days, someone who would either push them down the depth chart or even arrive in a trade that sends them elsewhere. The Giants lost two veteran receivers this offseason — Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer had a combined 109 touchdown catches between them — and as of now are without a 1,000-yard receiver.

That's not 1,000 yards in a season. No one on the Giants' roster has 1,000 receiving yards in his career. Which is why most expect a receiver to come either early in the draft or from another team.

But if that doesn't happen — according to league sources, talks between the Browns and Giants for Braylon Edwards, once the most promising of the potential deals, have come to a virtual standstill — the Giants will have to enter the 2009 season with what they have now.

"I'm excited," said Smith, preparing for his third season and perhaps his first as a starter. "I want a bigger role."

Hixon started several games last year while Burress was either suspended or nursing his gunshot wounds. But he was always a temporary plug-in. This year he could be a bonafide starter.

"I think everyone coming into the offseason, they want to be the number one guy, and coming into the NFL they want to be the number one guy," Hixon said. "You get the opportunity, you work hard for it, and when the chance is there you take advantage of it and have fun."

The Giants can go in any number of directions to improve the receiver position. They have the 29th pick in the first round of this weekend's draft and can wait to see who's available then — at least one of the perceived second-tier of receivers with players like Hakeem Nicks, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Kenny Britt should be there at that point — and make their pick. They can trade some of their 10 picks in the draft to move up and try to grab a more polished receiver such as Jeremy Maclin or even Michael Crabtree if he drops far enough. Or they can try to acquire a veteran such as Edwards or Anquan Boldin in a trade.

The option few people seem to think makes sense is standing still, but last week general manager Jerry Reese made that sound like a possibility.

"We have pro football receivers on our team right now," Reese said. "We are going to try to improve it, but sometimes if you can't do that, you go with what you have."

Hixon and Smith — the presumed starters in that case — said they are up for the task.

"I think (expectations) are raised for the whole wide receiver group," Hixon said. "We all expect the best from ourselves and we're going to come in and work hard every day and hopefully exceed those expectations."