| Year: | 2016 |
| Team: | Washington Redskins |
| Record: | 8–7–1 |
| Division Place: | 3rd NFC East |
| Coach: | Jay Gruden |
| Owner: | Daniel Snyder |
| General Manager: | Scot McCloughan |
| President: | Bruce Allen |
| Off Coach: | Sean McVay |
| Def Coach: | Joe Barry |
| Stadium: | FedExField |
| Radio: | ESPN 980 WTEM
|
| Playoffs: | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers: | LB Ryan Kerrigan TE Jordan Reed G Brandon Scherff T Trent Williams QB Kirk Cousins |
| Shortnavlink: | Redskins seasons |
The 2016 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 85th season in the National Football League (NFL), the 20th playing their home games at FedExField and the third under head coach Jay Gruden.
The season saw the Redskins play in London for the first time in franchise history, where they tied the Cincinnati Bengals 27–27.
After a disappointing loss in the final week to the New York Giants, the Redskins were eliminated from playoff contention. Despite missing the playoffs, the Redskins finished the season with a record of 8–7–1, which was the first consecutive winning seasons for the team since the 1996 and 1997 seasons. Along with the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington was the only team in 2016 that played seven regular-season games against teams that would reach the playoffs: four games combined against the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, games against the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions (as the NFC North was the only division besides the NFC East to send more than one team to the 2016 postseason) and a game against the sole AFC North 2016 playoff team (the Pittsburgh Steelers); the Redskins' 2–5 record in these contests was a major reason they did not return to the playoffs.
As of 2023, this is the last time that the then-named Redskins have finished with a winning record.
All 2015 contracts expired to coincide with the beginning of the 2016 NFL League Year at 4:00 EDT on March 9, 2016. However, before that date, all teams had until March 1 to place the franchise tag on a player, and could begin negotiations with a player's agent on March 7.
On March 8, the Redskins released S Dashon Goldson, DE Jason Hatcher, QB Robert Griffin III, and S Jeron Johnson.
On April 14, the Redskins waived OLB Jackson Jeffcoat.
| Date | Player | Position | Contract Type | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 1 | Kirk Cousins | QB | Franchise Tag | 2016 salary worth $19.953 million | |
| March 9 | Colt McCoy | QB | Extension | Signed 2 yr, $15m contract with $6.75m guaranteed | |
| Duke Ihenacho | S | RFA | |||
| Mason Foster | LB | UFA | Signed 2 yr, $3.5m contract with $1.8m guaranteed | ||
| Kedric Golston | DE | UFA | |||
| March 11 | Logan Paulsen | TE | UFA | ||
| March 12 | Tress Way | P | RFA | Signed 5 yr, $7.59m contract with $2.95m guaranteed | |
| March 15 | Will Blackmon | FS | UFA | ||
| March 16 | Junior Galette | OLB | UFA | Signed 1 yr, $1.6m contract | |
| Josh LeRibeus | C | UFA | |||
| March 17 | Chris Thompson | RB | UFA |
| Date | Player | Position | Previous Team | New Team | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 9 | Robert Griffin III | QB | Washington Redskins | Cleveland Browns | Signed 2 yr, $15m contract with $6.75m guaranteed | |
| Tom Compton | G | Washington Redskins | Atlanta Falcons | |||
| Alfred Morris | RB | Washington Redskins | Dallas Cowboys | Signed 2 yr, $3.5m contract with $1.8m guaranteed | ||
| Keenan Robinson | ILB | Washington Redskins | New York Giants | |||
| Terrence Knighton | DT | Washington Redskins | New England Patriots | |||
| Frank Kearse | DE | Washington Redskins | New England Patriots | |||
| March 11 | Kendall Reyes | DE | San Diego Chargers | Washington Redskins | ||
| March 15 | David Bruton | SS | Denver Broncos | Washington Redskins | Signed 3 yr, $9.15m contract with $3.4m guaranteed | |
| March 17 | Terrence Garvin | ILB | Pittsburgh Steelers | Washington Redskins | ||
| March 31 | Vernon Davis | TE | Denver Broncos | Washington Redskins | Signed 1 yr, $2.4m contract with $1.1m guaranteed | |
| April 14 | Greg Toler | CB | Indianapolis Colts | Washington Redskins | ||
| Jackson Jeffcoat | OLB/DE | Washington Redskins | Cleveland Browns | |||
| April 18 | Cody Booth | OLB | Jacksonville Jaguars | Washington Redskins | ||
| April 22 | Josh Norman | CB | Carolina Panthers | Washington Redskins | Signed 5 yr, $75m contract with $36.5m guaranteed |
See main article: article and 2016 NFL Draft.
The 2016 NFL Draft occurred from April 28 to April 30, 2016. Going into the draft, the Redskins had eight selections, two of which were from another team: the additional seventh-round (#232) selection from the Dashon Goldson trade in 2015 and a sixth-round selection (#187) from the New Orleans Saints (the Redskins sent their sixth-round selection to Tampa Bay as part of the Goldson trade).
During the draft, the Redskins swapped first-round selections (#21 for #22) with the Houston Texans in exchange for their 2017 sixth-round selection, traded their 2016 fourth round selection (#120) to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for the Saints' fifth-round selections in 2016 (#152) and 2017, and traded their fifth-round selection (#158) to the New York Jets in exchange for their 2017 fourth-round selection.
| Round | Selection | Player | Position | College | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | TCU | ||||
| 2 | 53 | Su'a Cravens | ILB | USC | |
| 3 | 84 | Kendall Fuller | Virginia Tech | ||
| 4 | 120 | Selection traded to the New Orleans Saints | |||
| 5 | 152 | Matt Ioannidis | DE | Temple | |
| 6 | 187 | Nate Sudfeld | QB | Indiana | |
| 7 | 232 | Steven Daniels | LB | Boston College | |
| 7 | 242 | Keith Marshall | RB | Georgia | |
After the draft, the Redskins signed 14 undrafted college free agents to the team as part of the off season roster:[1]
| Player | Position | College | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tevin Carter | S | Utah | |
| Michael Cooper | TE | Indiana | |
| Reginald Diggs | WR | Richmond | |
| Ejiro Ederaine | LB | Fresno State | |
| Joe Gore | OT | Clemson | |
| Maurice Harris | WR | Cal | |
| Dominick Jackson | OT | Alabama | |
| Joe Kerridge | FB | Michigan | |
| Anthony Lanier | DE | Alabama A&M | |
| Geno Matias-Smith | DB | Alabama | |
| Shiro Davis | LB | Texas | |
| Robert Kelley | RB | Tulane | |
| Valdez Showers | WR | Florida |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game site | NFL.com recap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 11 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 17–23 | 0–1 | Georgia Dome | Recap | |
| 2 | August 19 | New York Jets | W 22–18 | 1–1 | FedExField | Recap | |
| 3 | August 26 | Buffalo Bills | W 21–16 | 2–1 | FedExField | Recap | |
| 4 | August 31 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 20–13 | 3–1 | Raymond James Stadium | Recap |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game site | NFL.com recap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 16–38 | 0–1 | FedExField | Recap | ||
| 2 | September 18 | Dallas Cowboys | L 23–27 | 0–2 | FedExField | Recap | |
| 3 | September 25 | at New York Giants | W 29–27 | 1–2 | MetLife Stadium | Recap | |
| 4 | October 2 | Cleveland Browns | W 31–20 | 2–2 | FedExField | Recap | |
| 5 | October 9 | at Baltimore Ravens | W 16–10 | 3–2 | M&T Bank Stadium | Recap | |
| 6 | October 16 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 27–20 | 4–2 | FedExField | Recap | |
| 7 | October 23 | at Detroit Lions | L 17–20 | 4–3 | Ford Field | Recap | |
| 8 | October 30 | at Cincinnati Bengals | T 27–27 | 4–3–1 | Recap | ||
| 9 | Bye | ||||||
| 10 | November 13 | Minnesota Vikings | W 26–20 | 5–3–1 | FedExField | Recap | |
| 11 | November 20 | Green Bay Packers | W 42–24 | 6–3–1 | FedExField | Recap | |
| 12 | November 24 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 26–31 | 6–4–1 | AT&T Stadium | Recap | |
| 13 | December 4 | at Arizona Cardinals | L 23–31 | 6–5–1 | University of Phoenix Stadium | Recap | |
| 14 | December 11 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 27–22 | 7–5–1 | Lincoln Financial Field | Recap | |
| 15 | Carolina Panthers | L 15–26 | 7–6–1 | FedExField | Recap | ||
| 16 | at Chicago Bears | W 41–21 | 8–6–1 | Soldier Field | Recap | ||
| 17 | January 1 | New York Giants | L 10–19 | 8–7–1 | FedExField | Recap | |
The Redskins entered this Week 1 matchup against the Steelers having lost five consecutive games against Pittsburgh dating back to 1991. They scored an average of 8.2 points per game in those five losses. The Redskins' 22-point defeat was their worst in a Week 1 game in 15 years. It was also their worst opening day home loss since 1966.[2]
The Redskins defense had a very hard time containing DeAngelo Williams as he exploded for 143 rushing yards and the Steelers explosive receiving corps of Antonio Brown and Eli Rogers who would go on to have strong performances.
With the win, the Redskins improved 1-2 and won at MetLife Stadium for the first time since 2011.
The Redskins rallied with a late touchdown run by Cousins, but the Lions responded with Matthew Stafford throwing the game winner to Anquan Boldin, thus ending the Redskins winning streak.
NFL International SeriesHoping to rebound from their loss to the Detroit Lions, the Redskins played in the third and final game of the year in London against the Cincinnati Bengals. With a few minutes left in overtime, Dustin Hopkins missed a game-winning field goal and allowed the Bengals to take over. After that, Bengals' Andy Dalton fumbled and allowed the Redskins to take back the ball. A Hail Mary attempt failed, making the Redskins tie for the first time since 1997 when they tied 7–7 against the Giants.
After their tie against the Bengals and their bye week, the Redskins came back home to host the Minnesota Vikings on Homecoming Weekend. After allowing the Vikings to score 20 unanswered points to end the first half, the Redskins shut out the Vikings 12-0 in the second half, improving to 5-3-1 on the season.
The Redskins avenged their 35–18 loss to the Packers in the wildcard round of last season's playoffs by beating them 42–24. They also were the last team to beat the Packers, as they went on a 6-game winning streak to finish the season.
Thanksgiving Day gameAn attempted rally by the offense did not pay off. The Redskins dropped to 6–4–1 and were swept by the Cowboys for the first time since 2013.
Kirk Cousins attempted to drive down the field but was intercepted by Patrick Peterson to seal the second straight loss for the Washington Redskins. With the loss, the 'Skins dropped to 6-5-1 and allowed the Cowboys to clinch a playoff spot by virtue of the loss.
The Redskins rebounded from a disappointing loss at Arizona to break their two-game losing streak. Chris Thompson scored the game-winning touchdown, while Ryan Kerrigan sealed the game with a strip sack of Carson Wentz.
Josh Norman's revenge against his former team came up short in an abysmal Monday Night performance by the Redskins.
With their playoff hopes on the line, the Redskins hosted the 10-5 New York Giants. The Redskins were pressured all day and two picks by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie made the Redskins miss out on the playoffs.