Giants make another major front office change, add senior VP in football operations Dawn Aponte

The New York Giants are continuing to reshape their front office as the John Harbaugh era takes shape. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jordan Raanan, the Giants are hiring longtime league executive Dawn Aponte as their new Senior Vice President in Football Operations.

Giants Add Dawn Aponte to their Front Office in Senior VP Role

Aponte, who most recently served as the NFL’s Chief Football Administrative Officer, brings over 30 years of administrative and financial expertise to the Giants’ organization.

Aponte is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant financial minds in professional football. An attorney and a CPA, Aponte’s resume includes high-level stints with the Jets, Browns, and Dolphins—where she famously served as the chief contract negotiator and salary cap manager.

Aponte’s ability to structure creative, team-friendly deals is notable; during her time in Miami, she was credited with keeping the Dolphins’ aggressive free-agent spending under control while avoiding long-term cap hell.

She interviewed for the Los Angeles Chargers general manager position in 2024 and the New York Jets’ general manager position in 2025.

Aponte Replaces Kevin Abrams

This move comes in the wake of major front office shakeups for the Giants, including the exit of former Senior Vice President of football operations & strategy, Kevin Abrams. Over the last three decades, Abrams played an integral role in the Giants’ front office and spent over two decades as an assistant general manager with the organization across four different regimes.

His exit was a massive signal of forthcoming change for the Giants upon the arrival of Harbaugh. Now, instead of Abrams serving that cap-cleaning role, Aponte will step in and fill that role, among others, as the team’s Senior Vice President in Football Operations

Aponte Brings Three Decades of Executive Experience

For Aponte, this move is a homecoming to the city where her NFL journey began as a New York Jets intern in 1991. Having spent 15 years in various capacities with the Jets and later rising to the highest ranks of the NFL league office, she possesses an unparalleled understanding of the New York market and the inner workings of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

As the Giants’ Sr. VP in Football Operations, Aponte will likely oversee the day-to-day business side of the roster, including league compliance, labor finance, and football budgets. This move streamlines the communication between the front office and the coaching staff, ensuring they have the resources and contract flexibility needed to build an elite unit.