The Cleveland Browns have seen a lot of shakeups in the front office and coaching staff over the past few months, most notably Paul DePodesta leaving the organization to join the Colorado Rockies, and Todd Monken recently being hired as the new head coach and successor to Kevin Stefanski. These are never easy moves, but they are all necessary to usher this team into a new era after two consecutive awful seasons.
More teams than ever are shaking things up as well, including the New York Giants, who swooped in and hired former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh to be their new coach this offseason. Harbaugh isn’t the only new face in New York, as the team also recently hired a notable former Browns executive as well. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan and Adam Schefter shared that the Giants are officially hiring executive Dawn Aponte into a VP role.
She was a former VP of football administration with the Browns from 2009-10 and has also worked for a number of other teams.
“Giants are hiring NFL executive Dawn Aponte into a VP role, per me and @AdamSchefter. 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, Browns and Jets,” Raanan posted on X.
Giants are hiring NFL executive Dawn Aponte into a VP role, per me and @AdamSchefter.
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, Browns and Jets.
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) February 4, 2026
Her official title will be the senior vice president of football operations and strategy, and this move comes just weeks after Kevin Abrams left the same role. This is the first big front office move in New York since hiring Harbaugh, who reports directly to ownership as part of his deal and has a big hand in reshaping the entire organization.
Aponte began her career with the New York Jets, where she spent 12 years in various roles, and will now return to the Big Apple with the other team.
Harbaugh got himself a good one, and it’s a shame the Browns couldn’t keep her around much longer.
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