The Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 76th season in the National Football League. The Redskins finished their regular season with a record of 9–7 and a playoff appearance. This was an improvement over the 2006 season when they went 5–11 and finished last in the NFC East. Over the course of the season, Washington went 5–3 in home games at FedExField, and 4–4 on the road; they lost 6 of their 7 games by one touchdown or less. After losing to the Seattle Seahawks in the wild card round, Coach Joe Gibbs announced his retirement, thus ending his second stint as head coach of the Redskins. During the season, the tragedy of Sean Taylor's death occurred before a game against the Buffalo Bills. For the first defensive play, they fielded 10 men leaving the usual free safety spot empty to honor Taylor. Coaching staff Head coach Joe Gibbs entered his fourth year of his second tenure with the Redskins and was the second-to-last year on his existing contract. Gibbs previously coached the Redskins in the 1981–1992 seasons, during which he had won three Super Bowls with the Redskins. On January 8, 2008, three days after the season ended, Gibbs announced his retirement from the position of head coach and president; he remained on board as a special assistant to Dan Snyder. The Redskins fired former linebackers coach Dale Lindsey and promoted Kirk Olivadotti to take his job. Olivadotti previously helped coach the defensive line and special teams. The Redskins also added Tony Spinosa, Matthew Shea, and Bill Khayat to their coaching staff. Offseason Signings On March 2, the Redskins signed London Fletcher, formerly with the Buffalo Bills, to a 5-year, $25 million contract. The deal also includes a $10.5 million signing bonus. On March 3, the Redskins signed Fred Smoot, formerly with the Minnesota Vikings, to a 5-year deal. Smoot was drafted by the Redskins in 2001 and signed with the Vikings in 2005. On March 8, the Redskins signed Ross Tucker, formerly with the Cleveland Browns, to an undisclosed contract. On March 21, the Redskins signed Jason Fabini, formerly with the Dallas Cowboys, to an undisclosed contract. On April 5, the Redskins signed David Macklin, formerly with the Arizona Cardinals, to a 1-year contract. On June 1, the Redskins signed Jason McAddley, formerly with the San Francisco 49ers, to an undisclosed contract. On August 21, the Redskins signed