The 2016 Columbus Crew SC season was the club's 21st season of existence and their 21st consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of soccer in the United States and Canada. The first match of the season was on March 6 against Portland Timbers. It was the third season under head coach Gregg Berhalter. The Crew's USL Pro affiliate this season was Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
The Crew started preseason in Columbus and traveled to Florida for a two week camp. They then played games in Arizona as part of the 2016 Desert Diamond Cup before returning to Ohio. The Crew brought in the following trialists during training camp: Matt Pacifici.
Unsigned draft picks Rodrigo Saravia, Chase Minter, Kyle Parker, Marshall Hollingsworth and Vince Cicciarelli also joined the team for preseason.
The Columbus Crew failed to qualify for the playoffs in this season.
Under "Apps" for each section, the first number represents the number of starts, and the second number represents appearances as a substitute.
|- |colspan=12 align=center|Players who left Columbus during the season: |-
Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. The picks for the Columbus Crew are listed below:
The away kit was based on the flag of Columbus.