NFL Rumors: Patriots Considered Using Grey Bottoms With New Blue Jerseys

A few days before the 2020 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots revealed their new permanent home and away uniforms, which are a tweaked versions of their Color Rush uniforms.

Their home uniforms are a white top with blue pants, and the away uniforms are a blue top with blue pants. However, New England may have contemplated a different combination of colors for their away uniforms before making their final decision.

According to Paul Lukas of Uni Watch, the six-time Super Bowl champions had considered using grey pants with their blue jerseys. Here is the concept art for that design, which was shared by Lukas, who received it from an unnamed source that had access to the Nike concept art:

As Lukas pointed out, having the grey pants would have allowed the Patriots to mix and match those pants with their home jerseys as well. But the team opted to go with the blue pants that match their away jerseys instead.

"As we started to think about the 2020 season and a new decade, we began to envision what we wanted our uniforms to reflect," CMO of Kraft Sports and Entertainment Jen Ferron said in a statement. "The success of the 'Color Rush' uniform that we've worn for the past couple of years had us thinking that we didn't need to make real substantive changes, rather we could make modest changes to our home uniform and then use a complementary version with those same aesthetics for our away uniform."

Many fans may be disappointed to see that New England did not bring back their old-school red uniforms. However, as the team states, league rules make it "impossible" to "wear the red throwbacks while respecting the integrity of that uniform."