NFL’s Nike ‘Rivalries’ uniforms have dropped, and we’ve ranked them

The NFL and Nike unveiled eight new ‘Rivalries’ uniforms for the AFC East and NFC West teams.
The uniforms celebrate local traditions and team legacies with unique designs.
The uniforms will be worn once during the 2025 season in a divisional rivalry game.

After four months of anticipation, particularly among those who fancy themselves football fashionistas, the NFL and Nike revealed their new “Rivalries” uniforms Thursday morning – kits that make a departure from the fairly conservative looks the league has featured for most of its hundred-plus years of existence.

Effectively cousins to the NBA’s popular ‘City Edition’ uniforms or Major League Baseball’s ‘City Connect’ jerseys, the ‘Rivalries’ unis present looks – if ones that may not be embraced by traditionalists – that will make the AFC East and NFC West teams that wear them this season pop for viewers while attempting to celebrate the local ethos of those clubs.

‘Everyone loves good rivalries, which have the power to connect and transform athletes, fans, teams and entire communities,’ Nike relayed in a press release regarding the uniforms it first teased on the second day of the 2025 NFL draft.

‘The 2025 Rivalries uniforms will celebrate storied local traditions and unite fan communities with designs unique to select cities and teams.

‘The designs are rooted extensively in the legacies and inspirations true to each team, serving as authentic, competitive expressions of community pride while giving athletes and fans an opportunity to connect like never before.’

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The new uniforms for all eight teams – and they all had direct input into their customized threads – will be worn once this season during a home game against a division rival (details below). They will then become part of the club’s uniform closet for the next three years.

The league’s other 24 teams will get their own ‘Rivalries’ uniforms in future years, two additional divisions to be added to the rotation annually through the 2028 season.

‘Rivalries will bring fresh energy to the field with each new uniform, while providing a platform to amplify the community and hometown pride that is rooted in each NFL fan,’ said Taryn Hutt, the NFL’s vice president of club marketing, said in a statement.

The new ‘Rivalries’ jerseys and associated gear and apparel will be available at nike.com, NFLshop.com and fanatics.com starting Sept. 10.

The league will literally look quite different in 2025 as eight teams – the Bills, Browns, Steelers, Chargers, Commanders, Packers, Saints (a new helmet and a new/old jersey) and Buccaneers – previously revealed new throwback and/or alternate uniform looks earlier this summer.

USA TODAY Sports was granted an early look at the ‘Rivalries’ uniforms, and they certainly demand a ranking of their own, so here goes – from best to worst:

1. Arizona Cardinals

Did you hear about the haboob (better known as a dust storm) that engulfed Phoenix on Tuesday? Apparently it also sand-blasted the Cards’ new uniforms – to glorious effect.

Arizona’s ‘Rivalries’ unis appear pockmarked by sand and feature a reimagined state flag on the shoulder (a callback to the flag also pops off the helmet bumper). The flag, jersey number and pant stripes are outlined with copper trim, an ode to the official metal of Arizona. Literally a gritty look, the official theme of the Cardinals’ Rivalries unis is “Built to Last.”

2. Seattle Seahawks

They’re a close second, mainly because – I think – going predominantly with ‘Wolf Grey’ for the jerseys and pants might be a slight miss. But a “High-Decibel Zone” presentation meant to honor the team’s loud, proud, vocal fans is pretty sweet − Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Heart and Seattle’s other legendary rock bands surely approving. A soundwave pattern ripples across the shoulders and down the pants, appropriate given this team has set off seismometers in Seattle amid playoff touchdowns, like Marshawn Lynch’s epic one in a 2011 wild-card upset of New Orleans.

‘Hawks fans are further honored with “12s” embedded throughout the uniform including a cascade of them within the jersey numbers. The “Beetle Green,” aka iridescent green, trim is a nice change from the typical ‘Action Green’ that looks like highlighter ink.

But the coolest element is the helmet, a metallic chrome dome with bluish-green coloring that’s been much better executed than the black-and-gold two-tone crowns the Jaguars wore a few years ago.

3. Buffalo Bills

Nike’s hype video will make “Game of Thrones” fans wonder if the Bills will be now playing north of the Wall (they do have a new stadium under construction after all, but unclear if it’s rising in Westeros).

As for the uniforms, they’re quite iced out – similar to the Vikings’ “Winter Warrior” look, complete with silver numbers and helmet logo. Buffalo’s ‘Rivalries’ duds carry a ‘Cold Front” lable, and fans will be thrilled to see “Bills Mafia” stitched inside the collar. But the coolest detail is the silvery, texturized charging buffalo logo on the sleeve.

4. New England Patriots

If the Bills are north of the Wall, then the Pats seem based somewhere near the Iron Islands. Their “Nor’Easter” uniforms feature a sharp “Storm Blue” jersey “inspired by the New England fog.” The shoulder and tapered pants striping boast reflective silver material “designed to represent beams of light shining off the lighthouse connected to Gillette Stadium.” Also unveiled, a new “NE” logo appearing on the jersey’s sleeves.

The collar is busy but not in a bad way, encompassed by six red stars representing each state in New England. “We Are All Patriots,” which owner Robert Kraft declared after the team’s first Super Bowl win in 2002 – just five months after 9/11 – is written inside of it. Solid.

5. San Francisco 49ers

They clearly want you to know their fan base is known as the “Faithful,” the word written in gold script above the jersey numbers while “Faithful to the Bay” rings the collar’s interior. The red jersey numbers are presented in a slick “saloon font” and trimmed in a vibrant gold the team has never really featured aside from its helmets.

Given how the team has incorporated a cream color into its overall palette recently – noticeably on its website and social accounts – it is a bit disappointing the Niners went with a primarily black uniform. But this “For the Faithful” version is the team’s best homage yet to the California gold rush for which it’s named.

6. New York Jets

Sadly, its best aspect – “Gotham City Football Club” written in Gothic font and topped by the Jets’ plane logo – rests inside the neckline. The colors (“Empire Green,” black and gray) are meant to serve as a callback to Hall of Fame QB Joe Namath, who led the NYJ to their only Super Bowl nearly 57 years ago. The helmet, which has a stripe down the centerline, looks nice, but the Gothic jersey nubmers are shaky. The graphics on the sleeves and chest logo are a whiff, evoking a manhole cover … though the Jets often wind up in the gutter.

We’ll continue to wish this team would go whole hog on intimidating military airframes or, if Gotham is going to be the theme, give us something more Batman-adjacent. Alas.

7. Los Angeles Rams

Nike can be forgiven given a team that’s played in Cleveland, L.A. (twice), Anaheim and St. Louis doesn’t have especially deep roots. So the Rams’ “Midnight Mode” really just renders them yet another squad with a nearly black (midnight blue) alternate, though the sleeves do a better job showcasing the team’s iconic horns. “Rams House” is stitched inside the collar – even though SoFi Stadium is notoriously often overrun by visiting teams’ fans. The dark helmet does somewhat recall the ones worn by the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ teams led by Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner in STL.

8. Miami Dolphins

Feels like we’re reverting to the 1990s – it was a better time, right? – with more teams wanting a black-ish version uniform in their closet. Miami’s “Dark Waters” unis are meant to convey speed and South Florida’s night life in what’s officially a “dark pitch-blue” uniform with hits of “Turbo Green,” and the club’s standard aqua and orange. Meh, we’re not fooled. Missed opportunity not pivot to something closer to a “Miami Vice” feel.