NFL alternate helmets: Saints' new look could inspire change for these 5 teams

USA Today

2 days ago

The New Orleans Saints unveiled a new alternate helmet for the 2025 season this morning. The franchise is abandoning its all-black alternate helmets for all-white for the start of coach Kellen Moore's tenure.
Alternate uniforms have become a layer of fashion intrigue for teams every season. It's an opportunity for teams to bring out an unusual look or a throwback to a prior era of the franchise.
UPDATES NEEDED: 5 NFL teams that are most in need of new uniform designs
The San Francisco 49ers use their alternate uniforms to harken back to the team's last Super Bowl championship in 1994, a year when the team wore throwbacks to the team's 1950s look. Since 2023, the Atlanta Falcons' alternate jerseys have used a red helmet and throwback logo that references the team's original uniform from the late 1960s.
The Saints' update is a welcome sight for New Orleans fans. It's a clean look that other teams should take a hint from as some could use a refreshed look with their alternate helmets in 2025.
There's still time as teams continue to unveil their new looks ahead of the regular season. Here are five teams we think could use an update to their alternate helmets as the Saints have done.
NFL alternate helmets that should change
The Colts introduced black helmets with blue horseshoe logos into the alternate uniforms in 2023 and we can't say we're a fan. Indianapolis has one of the most traditional looks in the NFL; the blue and white jerseys are iconic and adding a black helmet is an awkward fit.
We have two potential solutions. One would be to switch the helmets from black to white and add a nod to the team's roots in Baltimore with the "Bucking Horse" logo in speed blue. That logo's already being used by the franchise in throwback campaigns.
Our second solution would be to use the team's current throwback uniform helmet but invert the colors. Instead of speed blue horseshoes on a white helmet, it'd be the other way around.
Carolina follows the popular trope of an all-black look with the process blue logo and stripes for the alternate helmet design. The team has yet to unveil any changes to its alternate uniforms for the 2025 season and it's been the alternate in place since 2022.
The blue logo on a black helmet looks good in renderings, but we're not sold on it practically. Instead, we'd opt for a silver logo instead of blue to make it pop more against the black helmet.
Lions coach Dan Campbell got his wish when Detroit added black into the uniform color scheme in 2024. The alternates are black jerseys and pants with Honolulu blue numbers complimented by Honolulu blue helmets with a black Lions logo.
This pops better under the lights of Ford Field, but we think the team could make a change that would work in all environments. Instead of Honolulu blue with a black logo, a black helmet with either a silver or Honolulu blue logo could be a clean look to compliment the black jerseys in all lighting.
As one of the oldest franchises in the NFL, the Bears have a lot of inspiration to draw on for their uniforms. They've stayed much the same since the 1930s with a mix of navy blue, orange and white.
Since 2022, the team's used orange as the primary color for both the jerseys and helmets in their alternate uniform. The combination of orange helmet and a navy logo with a white outline could be improved.
Three options come to mind: make the helmet navy with a white logo (a nod to the franchise's first helmet with a logo in 1962), keep the orange helmet but make the logo all-white or make the helmet navy with the team's alternate logo in orange.
The Browns are one of the oldest names in the NFL. You could pull up a photo of the 1964 NFL championship squad and know which team it was pretty easily thanks to the uniforms. They haven't changed much at all over the last six decades.
In 2023, the team made a change not seen since 1951: white helmets. The Browns used those white helmets with orange and brown striping in their alternate uniforms.
Now that fans have stomached that first change, we'd like to introduce a second change that acknowledges the team's rich history. Keep the white helmet but add the Browns' primary logo from the last time they won an NFL championship in 1964.
All the NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY's 4th and Monday newsletter.