Zach Triner
Getty
The Giants signed long snapper Zach Triner on Tuesday.
The New York Giants continued their special-teams overhaul Tuesday.
The Giants signed long snapper Zach Triner on Tuesday, adding another new specialist to their 2026 team.
Triner, 35, is a Massachusetts native who has spent the past two seasons bouncing between teams after starting his NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He has logged 85 games in his NFL career and won the Super Bowl as a member of the Buccaneers in the 2020 season, helping them win Super Bowl LV over the Kansas City Chiefs. Triner has 10 tackles over his career.
The Giants Signed a New Long Snapper
The Giants are revamping their entire kicking operation under new head coach John Harbaugh, and it is better late than never since it should have happened a long time ago.
So they brought in Triner, who only played nine games split between the Washington Commanders and Atlanta Falcons after splitting the 2024 season between the Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins.
But the veteran has persevered through long breaks too. He spent five years between long snapping at Assumption College in 2013 and earning a starting-snapper role with the Bucs, even though he worked out with the New England Patriots, New York Jets and Green Bay Packers in that span.
So Triner is guy to replace Casey Kreiter. Kreiter, who was not necessarily a problem during his six seasons with the Giants, left in free agency for the Arizona Cardinals, which left an opening on the team’s long-snapping apparatus.
The Giants Are Working to Overhaul Their Awful Special Teams
Between the new specialists group and new special-teams coach Chris Horton, the Giants are hoping to improve their special teams, which were dreadful last season.
Oft-injured kicker Graham Gano is likely to be replaced by big-legged former Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders, though Gano is still on the roster despite New York’s signing of Sanders.
Jamie Gillen, who was 30th in the NFL in punting average last season and couldn’t make an extra point when thrust into emergency duty multiple times, is being replaced by Jordan Stout, an All-Pro in 2025.
So it’s no surprise the Giants capped the hat trick by bringing in a new long snapper.
New York had the 32nd-ranked extra-point percentage (87.8%) and was tied for 28th in made field goals (23). Part of that is on the offense and former coaches Brian Daboll and Mike Kafka, since the Giants ranked third in fourth-down attempts (39) despite finishing 25th in fourth-down percentage (46.2).
Still, the Giants’ had a solid offense, especially after Jaxson Dart took over, but were bitten by hidden yardage thanks to shoddy special teams. They finished 30th-ranked net-punting average (38.3) as a consequence of surrendering the fourth-most return yards on punts in the NFL last season.
None of that will stand under Harbaugh, who despite being characterized as a CEO-type leader, cut his teeth in the NFL as Andy Reid’s special-teams coordinator with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Harbaugh is tasking Horton, with whom he worked with the Baltimore Ravens for 12 seasons, and general manager Joe Schoen with cleaning up the Giants’ specials.