Carolingian Steamroller

I think the Panthers helmet would have looked better if it was a different finish. You get the phenomenon of the black edge of the logo being distinct from the rest of the helmet because the decal has a different finish from the helmet shell.

Look at the very top of this image. That looks like the edge of a sleeve patch:

One other idea would be to use the silver numbers with white outlining, something Air Force currently does to great effect (and using a similar blue):

You can even take this further by deepening the shade of blue and making the silver even more pale. That's how the OG Lions were able to get the necessary contrast. You can see from this photo, just how close the silver on the pants is to the Bears' white (also side note: Sayers with a white facemask). The sleeve treatments and numbers look almost white. I actually think think the shiny Oregon style numbers would work better with the flat finish fabrics that are used today, providing even more contrast.

Actually, if Nike would like to get a little creative with reflective fabrics, the Lions might be a good place for that. Imagine this but instead of green and yellow, Honolulu blue and silver: Aaaand maybe a chrome helmet.

Not exactly. We don't really have the league involved beyond big picture stuff. We have a single uniform manufacturer but that's not so different from the days when 2 or 3 companies did everything. The individual team promotions departments have a lot of the power and its rare that one of them goes to Nike and says "go crazy." So much of the Cowboys/Lions similarities stem from teams in the 60's working from more or less the same tool set. The three stripe pattern became more or less the standard for pants in the mid-60's. In 1964, only Washington and Los Angeles a different pattern and on the Steelers. With helmets, of the teams wearing stripes, 5 had three stripes with 3 with one stripe. The Cowboys started with very obvious metallic blue helmets and pants and the Lions used a very, very pale silver that contrasted with a much deeper blue. By 1968, the two teams already looked very similar. As time went on, the Cowboys veered into a much more silver metallic shade, you can only really see the original color on the helmet. The Lions switched to white numbers as well. I think I like the idea of the Lions distinguishing themselves against Dallas by wearing Honolulu blue pants with white jerseys in the unlilkely incident the Cowboys opt for navy blue and making sure the blue jersey always has silver numbers. They could go a step further by making the silver extra pale. Much lighter than the current shade, which would have the added bonus of showing more contrast against the blue jersey.

Good day for the Chargers to go white over white.

I'd still want silver numbers. So for me, I'd reverse the white and silver there. Remember that the 90's set was tweaked version of the 70's set which had silver numbers:

People are going to hate me for this but: This came very close to greatness. Here me out. We have the updated logo and a tri-color design ordering is consistent across every element except the home jersey (black on the outside, followed by the lightest non-background color, with the interior color the middle ground [silver/blue]). The black really creates a sharp line against the silver on the helmet/pants and the Honolulu blue on the home jersey that helps it stand out. The helmet stripes are way too narrow but in an interesting way. I think with a slightly better number font that matched and silver numbers on the home uniform, this might be a winner. The Lions also made the playoffs multiple time wearing this. That having been said, I do like their current set because I think it successfully cleaned up some of the issues with the old set, namely making the helmet stripes a more reasonable width and opting for a silver facemask. I think a happy medium would be to swap the black for the interior most color (silver on the blue jersey / blue on the helmet, pants, and away jersey).

See it more as 1910's fashion coming back.

God I love that uniform. This team belongs in all black with pinstripes. They had a win streak this past season wearing it at home and I was hoping they'd just wear it for every game, home and away.

The Phillies wearing the powder blues at home gets a pass from me because its a throwback. I have less patience for the Blue Jays and Rangers who wear alternates at home. Both of those uniforms are pretty sweet looking, so my frustration stems from a desire to see them wear them full time on the road.

The deal that Model struck to move his team to Baltimore stipulated that everything Browns, the history/name/logos/uniforms, stayed in Cleveland untouched and untainted. So technically, the Ravens are an expansion team and the Browns are the original club with a year or two missing.

Yep, the finish on that helmet looks really sweet. Could easily make this the permanent home set, or even pair with the navy jersey like the Bills.

True but they mostly had the basics down in year 1. The changed the number font a couple times and switched the pant stripe colors but that's about all.

Could always go back to being the Football Team...

I think most people would be content if the Texans just went with the red lids full time. Their set is maybe a tad bland in that it's navy over white like some other team but the font is solid, the sleeve design is nice. I might consider swapping the colors on the white pant stripe but I think the one they've had still works ok. Maybe just rolling with the red helmet adds a little spice? I get wanting an update but I think if you've stumbled upon a modern classic right out the gate, there's no reason to change. Just ask Jacksonville and Carolina.

That's one reason why I've wanted the Bears to switch the colors on the numbers. It would distinguish the Bears from the Broncos and Bengals orange jerseys and it would be more in keeping with how they originally wore orange jerseys in the past:

These looked better today. I don't know whether it was just the shock effect wearing off or (more likely) the lighting indoors in Texas was much more flattering than the shadows on a cold night in Chicago. I'm still not crazy about it but now I'm not demanding it be handled like toxic waste. I'd certainly like to see the socks stick around. Definitely go back to the undershirts matching the jerseys like in 2020.

The red Giants jerseys are in mothballs somewhere right?

This begs the question, would the NFL be better served with the swoosh on the jersey front as opposed to the sleeve? Maybe it gives the sleeve another half to full inch of space to work with?

The Packers have really only worn their current set since the 60's. They are also a classic example of design shifting to fit the shrinking space on the jersey as they used to have five stripes as opposed to three. One thing we don't often bring up is that not only are the sleeve shorter (as in further up the arm) but jerseys are also narrower. Compare the size of Gronk's (not a small guy at all) shoulder pads with Mike Alstott.

I think a big defining feature of our current era is all the mixing and matching which the Broncos really cannot claim to have started. A lot of designs today, including Oregon's, aren't that out there and look quite traditional in a vacuum. Remember that in the mid 00's the Ducks had diamond plate on their jerseys and knee pads while VA Tech had asymmetical shoulder designs, we're nowhere near those days. You just don't see a design like the early 00's Rams (with tons of side panel action) any more. What we do have are the blending of elements that were not designed to go together, most especially personified in today's NFL by the Rams and Jets. Weirdly, the idea of wearing multiple sets in a season went through a lull from the 40's through to 2002 when it began to really expand but I cannot find a definitive patient zero for the phenomenon. Maybe, maybe you have the 2002 Bills redesign which had four combinations right away. Maybe you look at the Jaguars introducing black pants? Maybe it was when the Saints started to mix in mono-black at home and really rotating their combinations? My best guess would be the 90's Eagles redesign which right away flipped back and forth between wearing green and white pants on the road. But then why did the concept take so long to reach a critical mass? Did a rule change occur that we're not away of? Does it coincide with Reebok becoming the lone manufacturer? Something happened because all of a sudden the Browns have four different white pants and are wearing orange jerseys.

I remember a white jersey with orange side panels was an option for NFL QB Club 98 on N64.

That's a better look that its been given credit for. The Rams went away from the bone over bone almost immediately. I tracked its usage in this comment after week 3.