It's an odd feeling to see a team roll out new uniforms and your first thought is, "Okay, how long until they get new new uniforms?"
That's the thought I had when the Cleveland Browns debuted their new duds -- pun intended -- in 2015, and the club will have new new uniforms by 2020. (In fact, Cleveland already wears an alternate that was part of the 2015 unveiling as often as they can already.) Knowing that, we'll go ahead and set the over/under on the lifespan of these new Jets kits at 5.5 seasons.
Uniform design is definitely an art form, and the Jets unis fall too far on the NCAA Football Create-a-Team side of the street. They were definitely designed with New York in mind, and you can tell because it says New York above the numbers of all three sets, which have New York-y type names -- Gotham Green, Spotlight White and Stealth Black.
Gone are the vertical stripes that went up and over the shoulder pads and the matching stripes that went down the pants -- which harkened back to the club's Super Bowl team -- replaced by a horizontal stripe running across the shoulder pad, which evokes action and excitement. The helmet is a mix of old Jets looks. The script J-E-T-S on a green lid pays homage to the Jets of the 1980s and '90s, but the new look keeps the football. The Jets are the only NFL team to wear a football on their football helmet. Undoubtedly the worst aspect of the new kits are the all-black uniforms. Yes, it's now commonplace for teams to have alternates that are mono-chrome of their third color -- think the Rams' all-yellows, or the Seahawks' all-neons -- but black and dark green aren't a great mix, especially considering the NFL won't allow the Jets to mix in a black helmet. Tell me you won't think of Marshall or North Texas playing on a Tuesday night anytime you see these. Overall, are they bad uniforms, like the set the Browns are mothballing after this year? No, they're not bad. But there's definite room for improvement. In fact, one Twitter user improved upon them within minutes of their release.
The bet here is that the Jets will be back in their faux-throwbacks by 2025, but only time will tell.