Everyone has heard the title, but what exactly does a director of football operations do?
The better questions is what doesn't it entail.
From dealing with the salary cap to negotiating contracts to planning for the future to interacting with agents, Ed Triggs has a lot on his plate. The Giants' director of football ops recently joined the "Giants Huddle" podcast to discuss his role with the team and his journey from starting in the video department the year before Tom Coughlin arrived.
But at the heart of it all is a roughly 5,000-page document called the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement.
"There's a lot of rules in there when it comes to offseason workouts, when it comes to what you can and cannot put in contracts," Triggs said, "and it's my job to make sure we don't screw any of that stuff up."
No pressure there.
While there have been many changes and new faces this offseason, Triggs has remained with the team since 2003. He now works under general manager Joe Schoen, who came over from the Buffalo Bills along with coach Brian Daboll. Together, they have energized the building.
"On Joe's first day, I got in at 6 o'clock in the morning to work out," said Triggs, who looks like he could go toe to toe with any professional athlete in the gym. "I'm thinking maybe he'll be working out and I'm going to try to beat him in. When I walked into the staff locker room, he'd finished his workout already. I was like, 'Wow.' It told me all I need to know about him, and that's what I had heard from other people around the league. He's a grinder, he's a hard worker, but most importantly, he's a great guy. That's what I've come to learn over the past five months. He's a people person. He listens to what we as a staff have to say when it comes to a topic. He'll ask your opinion, understanding that he might not always [take] it, but all we can do is present the facts to him or give him what we feel about a contract, about a player. But he's fair and his energy is through the roof. You don't get up at 5 o'clock in the morning and start your day with an hour workout if you don't have that energy and that juice.
"The beauty of it is Coach Daboll is the same way. They feed off each other. They're in unison with their principals. They're in unison with the "Smart, Tough, and Dependable" aspect, that motto, and you can just feel it throughout the entire building – the juice that is here. It's something that you wake up in the morning, you run to work and say, 'I'm excited to be here every day.'"
Speaking of motivation, that's how Triggs made the move from the video department to football operations.
"[Video] was a great learning experience," Triggs said. "You have all the video in the world at your fingertips, and it's your to job edit it and film it. You're embedded in the filming of these individual drills. I was a 22-year-old Giants fan when I got the job, and I'm filming defensive line drills with Michael Strahan and Keith Hamilton. It's one of those surreal moments where you're like, 'Don't get run over and make sure you keep these humongous guys in the frame.' So that was the start of it. Then being introduced to Coach [Tom] Coughlin was the jumping off point for me in my career.
"I had heard the stories from people in Jacksonville that he was tough, he was demanding, but he was fair. So when he got hired, he needed somebody to do his presentations and his team meetings. I kind of got volunteered as the guy to do that in 2004. I'm a 22-year-old kid [at the time], I sit in Tom Coughlin's office, it's 7 o'clock in the morning, he's like, 'I need you to put these 5,000 things in a PowerPoint,' and I had never even used PowerPoint before. And every day for 12-15 years, whatever it was, we met every morning at 7 o'clock and we developed the themes and mottos and everything that was going to try and inspire the football team. He taught me countless things, such as the pride when it comes to your work, that your signature is attached to anything that you do. He taught me about teamwork. He taught me about the fact that you can't do anything by yourself, and I think that's something that rings true in any job across the country."
The "Giants Huddle" podcast is available on Giants.com, Giants Mobile app, GiantsTV Streaming App, Giants YouTube Channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeartRadio.
For more information visit Giants.com/podcasts.
View photos of every move made by the Giants during the 2022 offseason.
K Ryan Santoso - Waived
S Yusuf Corker - Waived
DB Olaijah Griffin - Waived
WR Keelan Doss - Waived
WR Travis Toivonen - Waived
OL Josh Rivas - Waived
T Eric Smith - Terminated, Vested Veteran, all contracts
WR Travis Toivonen - Free Agent Signing
K Ryan Santoso - Free Agent Signing
S Andrew Adams - Terminated, Vested Veteran, all contracts
WR Bailey Gaither - Waived, Failed Physical
TE Tanner Hudson - Free Agent Signing
C Chris Owens - Waived
DB Harrison Hand - Claimed (off Waivers from MIN)
WR Jaylon Moore - Claimed (off Waivers from BAL)
WR Collin Johnson - Reserve/Injured
WR Marcus Kemp - Reserve/Injured
TE Jordan Akins - Terminated, Vested Veteran, all contracts
WR Sterling Shepard - Passed Physical
LB Darrian Beavers - Reserve/Injured
TE Andre Miller - Reserve/Injured
TE Ricky Seals-Jones - Reserve/Injured
T Matt Peart - Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform
C Nick Gates - Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform
OL Chris Owens - Free Agent Signing
OL Josh Rivas - Free Agent Signing
WR Robert Foster - Reserve/Injured
DL Christopher Hinton - Waived
DB Gavin Heslop - Waived
TE Jeremiah Hall - Waived
WR Austin Proehl - Waived, Injured
DB Olaijah Griffin - Claimed (off waivers from BUF)
OLB Azeez Ojulari - Passed Physical
Michael Jacquet III - Waived
OL Josh Rivas - Waived
DB Jarrod Wilson - Terminated, Vested Veteran, all contracts
T Eric Smith - Free Agent Signing
T Matt Gono - Terminated, Vested Veteran, all contracts
G Marcus McKethan - Reserve/Injured
T Will Holden - Free Agent Signing
DE Niko Lalos - Waived
DB Nate Meadors - Claimed (off waivers from CLV)
LB Austin Calitro - Free Agent Signing
LB Justin Hilliard - Waived
OT Garrett McGhin - Free Agent Signing
OT Kamaal Seymour - Waived
TE Daniel Bellinger - Passed Physical
WR Sterling Shepard - Declared Physically Unable to Perform
T Matt Peart - Declared Physically Unable to Perform
C Nick Gates - Declared Physically Unable to Perform
LB Azeez Ojulari - Declared Non-Football Injury
DB Andrew Adams - Free Agent Signing
DE Nick Williams - Free Agent Signing
WR Marcus Kemp - Free Agent Signing
OT Kamaal Seymour - Free Agent Signing
DB Maurice Canady - Terminated, Vested Veteran, all contracts
WR Travis Toivonen - Waived, No Recall
DT Jabari Ellis - Waived, No Recall
DB Henry Black - Waived, No Recall
DB Gavin Heslop – Free Agent Signing
OT Korey Cunningham - Terminated, Vested Veteran, Non-Football Injury
TE Daniel Bellinger - Declared Physically Unable to Perform
DB Dane Belton - Selection List Signing
WR Wan'Dale Robinson - Selection List Signing
TE Daniel Bellinger - Selection List Signing
WR Keelan Doss - Free Agent Signing
G Joshua Ezeudu - Selection List Signing
CB Cor'Dale Flott - Selection List Signing
DB Michael Jacquet - Free Agent Signing
S Henry Black - Free Agent Signing
CB Maurice Canady - Free Agent Signing
CB Khalil Dorsey - Free Agent Signing
DE Jalyn Holmes - Free Agent Signing
OLB Kavyon Thibodeaux - Selection List Signing
T Evan Neal - Selection List Signing
LB Micah McFadden - Selection List Signing
DT D.J. Davidson - Selection List Signing
OL Marcus McKethan - Selection List Signing
LB Darrian Beavers - Selection List Signing
DE Ryder Anderson - Undrafted Free Agent Signing
RB Jashaun Corbin - Undrafted Free Agent Signing
LB Tomon Fox - Undrafted Free Agent Signing
TE Austin Allen - Undrafted Free Agent Signing
DB Darren Evans - Undrafted Free Agent Signing
G Josh Rivas - Undrafted Free Agent Signing
DT Jabari Ellis - Undrafted Free Agent Signing
FB Jeremiah Hall - Undrafted Free Agent Signing
DT Christopher Hinton - Undrafted Free Agent Signing
DB Trenton Thompson - Undrafted Free Agent Signing
DB Zyon Gilbert - Undrafted Free Agent Signing
DB Yusuf Corker - Undrafted Free Agent Signing
OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux - Selected in Round 1 (Pick No. 5) of 2022 NFL Draft
OT Evan Neal - Selected in Round 1 (Pick No. 7) of 2022 NFL Draft
WR Wan'Dale Robinson - Selected in Round 2 (Pick No. 43) of 2022 NFL Draft
OL Joshua Ezeudu - Selected in Round 3 (Pick No. 67) of 2022 NFL Draft
CB Cor'Dale Flott - Selected in Round 3 (Pick No. 81) of 2022 NFL Draft
TE Daniel Bellinger - Selected in Round 4 (Pick No. 112) of 2022 NFL Draft
S Dane Belton - Selected in Round 4 (Pick No. 114) of 2022 NFL Draft
LB Micah McFadden - Selected in Round 5 (Pick No. 146) of 2022 NFL Draft
DL D.J. Davidson - Selected in Round 5 (Pick No. 147) of 2022 NFL Draft
OL Marcus McKethan - Selected in Round 5 (Pick No. 173) of 2022 NFL Draft
LB Darrian Beavers - Selected in Round 6 (Pick No. 182) of 2022 NFL Draft
TE Jordan Akins - Unrestricted Free Agent Signing
OT Roy Mbaeteka - Free Agent Signing
OL Max Garcia - Unrestricted Free Agent Signing
RB Sandro Platzgummer - Free Agent Signing
WR Richie James - Unrestricted Free Agent Signing
DT Justin Ellis - Unrestricted Free Agent Signing
RB Matt Breida - Unrestricted Free Agent Signing
LB Jihad Ward - Unrestricted Free Agent Signing
OL Jamil Douglas - Unrestricted Free Agent Signing
LS Casey Kreiter - Unrestricted Free Agent Signing
TE Ricky Seals-Jones - Unrestricted Free Agent Signing
OL Mark Glowinski - Unrestricted Free Agent Signing
QB Tyrod Taylor - Unrestricted Free Agent Signing
OT Korey Cunningham - Unrestricted Free Agent Signing
OL Jon Feliciano - Free Agent Signing
DB Jarren Williams - Exclusive Rights Signing
WR Robert Foster - Free Agent Signing
WR C.J. Board - Signed, Prior to becoming a Free Agent
OL Matt Gono - Free Agent Signing
WR David Sills V - Signed
TE Chris Myarick - Free Agent Signing
WR Austin Proehl - Free Agent Signing
QB Davis Webb - Reserve/Future Signing
P Jamie Gillan - Reserve/Future Signing
RB Antonio Williams - Reserve/Future Signing
WR Alex Bachman - Reserve/Future Signing
DE Niko Lalos - Reserve/Future Signing
WR Travis Toivonen - Reserve/Future Signing
DT David Moa - Reserve/Future Signing
OT Devery Hamilton - Reserve/Future Signing
LB TJ Brunson - Waived, No Recall
DT Antonio Valentino - Waived
QB Brian Lewerke - Waived
DE Raymond Johnson III - Waived
DB Jordan Mosley - Waived
LB Trent Harris - Terminated, Vested Veteran, all contracts
LB Omari Cobb - Waived
OL Wes Martin - Waived
TE Jake Hausmann - Waived
TE Rysen John - Waived
CB James Bradberry - Terminated, Vested Veteran, all contracts
DB Logan Ryan - Terminated, Vested Veteran, all contracts
TE Kaden Smith - Waived
P Riley Dixon - Terminated, Vested Veteran, all contracts
RB Devontae Booker - Terminated, Vested Veteran, all contracts
TE Kyle Rudolph - Terminated, Vested Veteran, all contracts
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