2025-26 NFL Uniform Preview: AFC Edition

After seven long months without football, the 2025-26 NFL season is nearly upon us, as the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles are set to host the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday evening (8:20 p.m. ET on NBC).

With that, we’ve once again compiled a comprehensive list of every uniform, logo and field change that has taken place across the league this offseason. Our two-part preview begins with the AFC and is broken down alphabetically by division – with the NFC to follow tomorrow.

But before we dive in, we must note a few changes that impact the league as a whole, starting with the logo for Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California, which integrates the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco skyline and redwood tress among a plethora of colors, including shades of blue, green, yellow, pink, red and purple.

The NFL also further relaxed its uniform policy this offseason to allow teams to wear alternate or throwback uniforms in as many as four games each year, up from three in previous seasons. They could also only wear their second helmets with an alternate or corresponding throwback uniform in the past.

However, with every team in the league permitted to introduce a third shell, the league will now let teams to mix-and-match their alternate helmets with their primary home and road jerseys. Teams are also able to wear alternate pants in the playoffs after previously being required to wear their standard home and road designs in the postseason.

Meanwhile, players who won one of the five Associated Press awards for the 2024 season will wear a gold NFL shield on their uniforms this fall in an effort to further recognize their outstanding achievements.

That includes Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (MVP), Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (Offensive Player of the Year), Denver Broncos quarterback Patrick Surtain II (Defensive Player of the Year), Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (Offensive Rookie of the Year) and Los Angeles Rams linebacker Jared Verse (Defensive Rookie of the Year).

This follows the lead of Major League Baseball, which gave gold “Batterman” patches to six players this season, including American League MVP Aaron Judge, Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and Rookie of the Year Luis Gil, as well as their National League counterparts Shohei Ohtani, Chris Sale and Paul Skenes.

Lastly, eight teams from the AFC East and NFC West recently unveiled new community-inspired alternate uniforms as part of the NFL’s new “Rivalries” series. The uniforms – which bring to mind MLB’s City Connect and the NBA’s City Edition programs – will debut during a home game against a divisional opponent and will remain in the team’s rotation for three seasons.

The “Rivalries” series will expand to the AFC South and NFC North in 2026, AFC West and NFC East in 2027 and the AFC North and NFC South in 2028, marking the first league-wide uniform promotion since the Color Rush program that debuted in 2015 and ran though the 2017 season.

Now, let’s take a look at the team-by-team changes across the AFC, though our list doesn’t include any uniform-related news for the Kansas City Chiefs or the Las Vegas Raiders, who will undoubtedly wear their silver number throwback jerseys at some point this season.

AFC East

Buffalo Bills

The Bills announced they will wear a patch on their jerseys for one undetermined game this fall as they bid farewell to Highmark Stadium, which will be replaced by a $2.1 billion, 62,000-seat stadium that bears the same name next season.

They also reintroduced their 1987-2001 throwback helmets, which they’ll pair with their blue home jerseys and white pants in their Week 18 matchup with the New York Jets, and revealed they’ll wear their “Standing Buffalo” throwback uniforms on Oct. 13 at the Atlanta Falcons and Nov. 16 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Additionally, Buffalo unveiled all-white “Cold Front” uniforms as part of the “Rivalries” series that which feature silver accents, a cracked ice design in the logos and stripes and a pattern on the shoulders that replicates snow on a bison’s fur. The Bills will debut the uniforms against the New England Patriots on Oct. 5.

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins revealed dark navy blue “Rivalries” uniforms that feature an orange “Miami” wordmark across the chest, aqua numbers with a reflective film outline and a fin-like design on the sleeves. The look is complete with a dark navy blue helmet that features a reflective logo and stripes, as well as a “305” and sunburst design on the bumpers.

Miami will debut the uniforms against the New York Jets on Sept. 29. It’s worth noting the uniforms will not be worn against each other and do not count toward the NFL’s revised uniform rules, which means they could still wear the home and road versions of their 1966 throwback uniforms this year, as well.

New England Patriots

The Patriots announced they’ll wear their “Pat Patriots” throwback uniforms twice this season, including Sept. 21 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dec. 1 against the New York Giants. They are just 1-5 in the uniforms since they were revived in 2022.

New England also revealed new “Rivalries” uniforms that feature “Storm Blue” jerseys with drop-shadow numbers, a “NE” logo on the sleeves that is inspired by nautical lettering and six red stars on the collar as a nod to the six states that comprise the region.

The “Nor’easter” uniforms, which the Patriots will debut against the New York Jets on Nov. 13, are complete with a white helmet and fishing net design in the UCLA stripes on the shoulders and in the truncated stripes on the white pants.

New York Jets

The Jets’ new “Rivalries” uniforms revive the UCLA stripes they wore on their shoulders from 1998-2018 but include a swamp green base and black sleeve caps that feature a sublimated design similar to the manhole covers seen on the streets of New York City.

The “Gotham City Football” uniforms are complete with Gothic-style numbers and will be paired with the Jets’ standard black helmets, though they’ve swapped the decals for an iron ore “Jets” wordmark. They’ll debut against the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 7.

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens will celebrate their 30th season this fall with a commemorative logo, which is shaped like their original logo that was scrapped after an amateur artist sued the franchise for copyright infringement, and notes their victories in Super Bowl XXXV and XLVII. It’s unclear if they’ll wear it as a patch on their jerseys, though.

Additionally, Baltimore announced it will wear its all-black alternate uniforms against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 22 and their “Purple Rising” alternate uniforms – which combine their purple alternate helmets with their Color Rush uniforms – against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thanksgiving.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals revealed they’ll wear their all-orange uniforms in their home opener for the second-consecutive season when they host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 9. They introduced orange pants to their closet last season, mixing and matching them with orange, black or white road jerseys in five games.

Cincinnati also announced it will wear its “White Bengal” alternate uniforms agains the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 16. The Bengals introduced their white alternate helmets in 2022 and have paired them with their standard road uniforms since 2023, going 2-1 in that combination in the years since.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns unveiled new brown “Alpha Dawg” alternate helmets this summer that will be paired with their all-brown Color Rush uniforms, which haven’t been worn since 2022. The helmets feature a brown facemask and two orange stripes down the center, mimicking the design that stitched inside the collar of their jerseys.

Cleveland will wear the all-brown uniforms three times this season, including Sept. 21 against the Green Bay Packers, Oct. 19 against the Miami Dolphins and Dec. 7 against the Tennessee Titans. That leaves one undetermined game for their white alternate helmets and 1946 throwback uniforms.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers unveiled an updated version of their 1933 throwback uniforms this summer, which include a new matte gold helmet reminiscent of the design they wore for just five games late in the 1962 season when they first added the Steelmark logo to the right side of their helmets.

Pittsburgh previously wore 1933 throwback uniforms as part of the NFL’s 75th season celebration in 1994, though they were paired with plain black helmets. This year’s jerseys aren’t the same, though, as they include oversized numbers on top of the black vintage stripes and push the Pittsburgh City Crest to the left shoulder.

The Steelers are also scheduled to wear their all-black Color Rush uniforms, which feature gold numbers and sleeve/pants stripes, against the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 15.

AFC South

Houston Texans

As part of their schedule announcement in May, the Texans announced they’ll wear their white road uniforms in the home opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 15, their “H-Town Blue” Color Rush uniforms agains the San Francisco 49ers on Oct. 26 and their “Battle Red” alternate uniforms against the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 20.

Meanwhile, Houston won’t unveil its “Rivalries” uniforms until next season, but owners Cal and Hannah McNair revealed during the annual State of the Texans event in May that they’ll include “certain colors,” which obviously alludes to the Columbia blue used by the Houston Oilers franchise.

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts will wear a jersey patch this season in honor of late owner, chairman and CEO Jim Irsay, who passed away in May at the age of 65. The black circular patch will be worn on the left shoulder and features his initials and signature, which includes his trademark smiley face. There are also seven nailheads, matching Indianapolis’ horseshoe logo.

Indianapolis also revealed it will host a “White Out” when it hosts the Denver Broncos on Sept. 14 and wear its “Indiana Nights” alternate uniforms against the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 22. The latter features “Anvil” black helmets, heather blue jerseys with horizontal stripes on the shoulders and matching pants.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Following executive vice president of football operations Tony Boselli’s offseason promise to wear them “as much as (they) can,” the Jaguars announced they’ll wear their “Prowler” throwback uniforms four times in 2025.

That includes divisional matchups with the Houston Texans on Sept. 21, Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 7 and Tennessee Titans on January 3 or 4, as well as a date with the three-time defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 6.

Boselli also strongly hinted the Jaguars have explored making the throwback uniforms their primary home design moving forward, but said they “can’t change them immediately,” which suggests they would need time to develop a matching road version and black alternate jersey and pants while modernizing them with the current logo(s).

Tennessee Titans

The Titans have promoted their light blue alternate jerseys to primary status and announced they plan to wear them in every home game this season, leaving their (now) navy blue alternate jerseys for potential road games where the opponent wears white at home.

Tennessee also revealed it will not wear its Houston Oilers throwback uniforms at all this fall after wearing them at least once in each of the last two seasons, which Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon confirmed is a precursor new uniforms that blend their current branding with an Oilers-inspired design.

It’s unclear when such changes will take place, though it’s worth noting the Titans will be moving into a new stadium in 2027.

AFC West

Denver Broncos

With teams no longer required to wear alternate helmets with alternate jerseys, Broncos president Damani Leech suggested they’ll have an increased number of uniform combinations this season, which includes wearing their white alternate helmets with their orange home or white road jerseys.

Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers unveiled two new alternate uniforms this summer, including new gold “Charger Power” and navy blue “Super Chargers” designs, the latter of which features a new navy blue alternate shell that is inspired by their time in San Diego.

Los Angeles will debut the “Charger Power” uniforms on Oct. 19 against the Indianapolis Colts, while the “Super Chargers” design will be worn on Oct. 23 against the Minnesota Vikings and Nov. 30 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Chargers also added new powder blue pants to their wardrobe, which can be worn with their powder blue home or white road jerseys. They’ll be worn at the Raiders on Sept. 15, against the Washington Commanders on Oct. 5, at the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 2, against the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 8 and at the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 21.

The remainder of their uniform schedules alternates white or gold pants with their standard white helmets, powder blue or white jerseys and powder blue socks. They’ll notably wear powder blue jerseys and gold pants when they travel to Miami to take on the Dolphins on Oct. 12.

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