Giants Hire New Senior Vice President of Football Operations

Dawn Aponte is reportedly filling a key front office role.

The New York Giants have reportedly hired longtime executive Dawn Aponte to a newly formed role in their front office. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The New York Giants have reportedly hired Dawn Aponte, a long-time NFL executive, for the role of Senior Vice President of Football Operations.

Giants are hiring NFL executive Dawn Aponte as Sr VP in football operations, per @JordanRaanan and me.

Aponte has been with the league since 2017 as the chief administrator of football operations. She also has previous experience working on the team side with the Dolphins,…

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 4, 2026

Aponte, who has been the chief administrator of football operations for the National Football League since June 2017, has extensive experience working for both the league and individual teams.  

Aponte, who has an accounting background, first worked for the New York Jets as an accountant from 1994 to 2001, and then as a salary cap analyst and pro personnel assistant before being promoted to senior director of football administration in 2005. 

While with the Jets, she crossed paths with Giants Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells, who worked as the team’s general manager from 1997 to 2000.

Aponte worked for the league for two seasons (2006 to 2008) as Vice President of Labor Finance before joining the Cleveland Browns, where she served as Vice President of Football Administration for two seasons.

In 2010, she joined the Dolphins, where she again overlapped with Parcells, who was in his final season as the team’s executive vice president of football operations. Aponte’s role with Miami included managing the team’s salary cap.

Aponte, who also crossed paths with current Giants general manager Joe Schoen in Miami, was with the Dolphins through the 2016 season.

Parcells, in 2013, before his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, spoke glowingly of Aponte, who, in 2023, interviewed for the Los Angeles Chargers general manager position. 

“I’m proud of what she’s accomplished,” Parcells told the Miami Herald (h/t The Phinsider).  “She’s pretty high up for a woman in this league.”  

It’s not known to whom Aponte will report in her new role with the Giants, but it would not come as a surprise if she directly reports to Harbaugh as part of a restructuring of the Giants’ front office as initiated by their new head coach. 

Aponte will reportedly have a similar role as that of former Giants senior vice president of football operations Kevin Abrams, with whom the team parted ways last month after 27 years. Among Abrams's chief duties was the oversight of the team's salary cap.

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