Ranking the NFL's new alternate helmets for the 2025 season

USA Today

6 days ago

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Beginning with the 2022 season, the NFL allowed teams to add an alternate helmet to their uniform options. Since then, we've seen some slick helmets pop up across the league, with the trend continuing in 2025 where several teams have unveiled second helmets for the upcoming season.
That includes some slick throwbacks sure to give fans a rush of nostalgia.
Below is ranking of each helmet revealed so far — independent of the full uniform — judged by style, creativity, nostalgia or simply how much I would want to rock each one myself. We'll update this ranking as more helmets are revealed.
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
I'm a fan of the color yellow when it's done right -- which usually means pairing it with black. That's exactly what the Steelers did with these throwback yellow shells with the black stripe down the middle and the classic Steelers logo on one side. The gray facemask is a nice touch too. These are beautiful.
2. New Orleans Saints
You're welcome. pic.twitter.com/ahMC3GOFq9
It's the small details that really take this helmet over the top for me, like the tiny black specks in the white paint and the gold stripe down the middle filled out with a bunch of the little Saints fleur-de-lis logos. This is much better than the black alternate they rolled out a couple years ago.
3. Buffalo Bills
It's beautiful. 😍https://t.co/3PZ63YMMqm | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/Dou6JIwV5F
These bright reds actually look a lot cooler than I remember back in the days, which is a sign of nostalgia done well. The Bills gave us something to miss.
4. Cleveland Browns
freshen up the phone screens 📲@DUDEwipes | #DawgPound pic.twitter.com/b2q0iGuw74
Listen, the helmets aren't the problem with these terrible new uniforms. Are they the flashiest shells in the league? No. But I'm a sucker for a good matte paint, and the shiny stripe livens them up a bit. I especially like that the Browns are actually making their helmets, ya know, brown. The white chin strap and bumpers add a nice contrast that the uniforms lack.
5. Washington Commanders
Weaving past and presentWe're adding back the Super Bowl Era threads to our uniform rotation pic.twitter.com/9nKrTYVABk
It's hard to give out nostalgia points for these semi-throwbacks considering the reasons they had to abandon the original helmet — and logo — in the first place (and I never loved the burgundy and gold color scheme to begin with). But I'll admit these helmets do at least strike a nice balance of past and present.
6. Los Angeles Chargers
the best got better. again. pic.twitter.com/Mysqbpwe3A
For a logo as cool as the lightning bolt, I've always thought these dark blue Chargers helmets were way too boring. I didn't like them much when LaDainian Tomlinson did his best to make them look cooler than they actually are, and I don't like 'em all that much now.
7. Green Bay Packers
Engineered for legends in the making pic.twitter.com/eIOqNSGWTi
If we were only giving out cool points, then the Packers would rank a lot harder simply for the effort and detail that went into turning the leatherheads into an actual modern helmet. But on looks alone, I can't rank these ugly helmets any higher than this.