Washington claimed former Jacksonville kicker Riley Patterson on Wednesday, the Commanders announced.
The Jaguars waived Patterson on Monday.
Patterson spent the 2022 campaign and this offseason with Jacksonville, first joining the Jaguars a week before the season and starting 19 games for the club, including the postseason.
He memorably hit a game-winning, 36-yard field goal in Jacksonville’s AFC Wild Card victory over Los Angeles in January 2023, capping off the third-biggest comeback in NFL playoff history.
Factoring in the postseason, Patterson connected on 33-of-38 field goal attempts and 40-of-41 extra-point tries with Jacksonville two seasons ago.
Patterson rejoined the Jaguars on a futures contract this offseason after starting the 2023 season with Detroit and ending it with Cleveland.
In 15 combined appearances with the Lions and Browns last year, Patterson converted 16-of-18 field goals but missed three of 44 extra-point attempts.
But Patterson faced intense competition for Jacksonville’s starting kicker role this summer, going against Jaguars’ sixth-round draft pick Cam Little. Now the only kicker on the team’s roster, Little has effectively won the job.
“Cam’s done great. He’s been really, really good,” Jaguars special teams coordinator Heath Farwell described Little on Saturday. “He’s so consistent, he’s locked in, he’s competitive and he’s everything I thought when I went and worked him out, when I met with him.
“All those great interactions I had pre-draft, he’s exactly what I thought, if not better. He’s talented, he’s doing it, he’s been consistent, he’s shown the leg strength, he’s done all those things.”
Little went 53-of-64 (82.8%) on field goal attempts with a 56-yard long in three seasons starting for Arkansas in college.
Presumptive #Jaguars starting kicker Cam Little, good from 58 in warmups pic.twitter.com/qVmLmJmZJf
— Zach Goodall (@zach_goodall) July 30, 2024