The Washington Commanders are a professional American football franchise based in the Washington metropolitan area. They are members of the East division in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL). The Commanders were founded in as the Boston Braves, named after the local baseball franchise. The team changed its name to the Redskins the following year and moved to Washington, D.C. in . The franchise retired the Redskins branding in , playing as the Washington Football Team before rebranding as the Washington Commanders in .