Cardinals Alternate Rivalries Drop & 2026 new releases

We are halfway through the 2026 drops with the Cardinals alternate rivalries drop. This is the 47th overall and the 2nd for the Cardinals (the other being the black alternate). I think it’s a pretty nice design. The limited edition helmets have pretty good craftsmanship, in my opinion, and I expect this release to be the same.

This is the fourth rivalries alternate. The other rivalries alternate releases were the Seahawks, Patriots, and Rams. There are four other rivalries alternates that Riddell has not released: 49ers, Bills, Dolphins, and Jets. I am going to assume the four other rivalries will eventually be released, leaving three helmets. There are some throwback and other alternate options from the last few years Riddell could release.

Moving forward, here are changes in the 2026 season that could be released. Many will be confirmed or finalized in August.

The new Titans and Commanders primaries are already available for pre-order. They obviously will not be part of the limited edition release series.
Two new Ravens alternates. A post on X imples the Ravens will keep their current primary and add two new alternates, the Purple Rising and Darkness helmet.
The Commanders will introduce a new black alternate (the W with an arrow through it).
The Rams apparently will wear an alternate in 2026. It’s not clear to me if the alternate will be the same as the 2025 rivalries alternate. The Rams are also “refreshing” their uniforms, but I don’t know if the helmet will change.
Rumored (not confirmed) Bills blue alternate helmet.
The NFC North and AFC South will be wearing rivalry alternate helmets in 2026. That’s eight. Here is the rivalries schedule:
- 2025 Phase: AFC East and NFC West
- 2026 Phase: AFC South and NFC North
- 2027 Phase: AFC West and NFC East
- 2028 Phase: AFC North and NFC South

This Sports Illustrated article did a pretty good job outlining the changes for 2026. All of the drop announcement images are below (not including the most recent Cardinals).

Another unexpected drop! The New York Giants alternate throwback

About a month ago, Riddell dropped the 2020-23 LA Chargers helmet. This was interesting because Riddell had previously only released contemporary helmets. The Chargers hadn’t worn this helmet since 2023…three years ago.

The most recent drop goes back to 2021. Here’s the story: In 2016, the Giants wore the 1981-99 helmet as a throwback. However, the NFL had a one helmet rule at the time. So, that Giants helmet has a metallic blue color, as opposed to the dark blue color the team actually wore between 1981 and 1999. That rule was repealed in 2022. So the Giants could wear the dark blue color starting 2022. Riddell released the dark blue helmet in February 2025.

You can also see in the photo below that the color of the 2016-21 helmet closely matches the primary color. Well done, Riddell. The craftsmanship for the limited edition helmets has been very good.

More info: Giants – Riddell NFL Pocket Pro Helmets

Updated Checklist

There have been a total of 46 limited edition helmets. Eight are left in 2026.

Riddell manufactured alternates and throwbacks in the speed style for the Bengals (2), Eagles, and Lions. There are not part of the limited edition series. And the Bengals throwback was never actually worn by the Bengals.

The only teams without a limited edition series helmet (not including the Bengals, who have the two speed helmets) are the Chiefs and Raiders. I wouldn’t expect a limited edition from these teams as they have essentially worn the same helmet since the 90’s.

Who could be next? There are still five rivalries helmets from 2025 available. The fact that Riddell has released retired helmets in the limited edition series opens up possibilities, like the 2023 Lions, 2023 Texans, 2016-22 Broncos, 2023 Broncos, or 2023 Jets alternates, which I think are really cool. Or maybe the Bills, Colts or Saints throwbacks, all of which have been worn in recent years.

Throwback / Alternate

Total: 46
2024: 15/15
2025: 25/25
2026: 6/14
Throwbacks: 16
Alternates (incl. rivalry): 25
Alternate throwbacks: 5

NFC: 26

East: 9 – Commanders 2, Cowboys 3, Eagles 1, Giants 3
North: 7 – Bears 2, Packers 2, Lions 1, Vikings 2
South: 5 – Buccaneers 1, Falcons 1, Panthers 1, Saints 2
West: 5 – 49ers 1, Cardinals 1, Rams 1, Seahawks 2

AFC: 20

East: 6 – Bills 1, Dolphins 1, Jets 2, Patriots 2
North: 3 – Bengals 0, Browns 2, Ravens 1, Steelers 1
South: 6 – Colts 1, Jaguars 2, Texans 2, Titans 1
West: 3 – Broncos 2, Chargers 2, Chiefs 0, Raiders 0

Note: The Bengals 1968-79 throwback, Eagles 1985-95 throwback, Lions 2023 alternate, and Bengals white alternate were manufactured in the speed style, but not released as part of the limited edition series. They are not included in this checklist.

A solid Chargers helmet

The limited edition helmets have been sharp, in my opinion. It would have been nice to have numbers on the helmets (like the actual helmets did), but that’s okay. I think there is licensing issues with using the numbers. But overall, well done in my opinion.

The execution of the bolt in the limited edition helmet (2020-23 alternate) on the left is much better executed than the regular factory helmet (2020-present primary). The photo below compares the two.

The photo below shows all the factory helmets for the Chargers.

The photo below is my factory and customs. The only one missing is the 2025 alternate throwback with player #s.

A unique Chargers drop

The newest Pocket Helmet Limited Edition drop will be the Chargers color rush helmet. It has a gold bolt with a royal blue outline and gold facemask. The pocket helmet does not have the player number, so it’s not entirely ‘authentic.’ After I write about why this is such an unusual drop, I will present the recent history of this helmet follows.

This is unusual drop because the Chargers haven’t worn this style since 2023. Previous limited edition drops focused on the current (or just ended) year. But this one goes three years back, almost putting it in the category of a throwback. Maybe the Chargers will wear this helmet again in 2026? This drop also kind of opens the possibility of pre-2024 limited drops, like the 2023 Lions alternate. Which is the holy grail of speed NFL pocket helmets 🙂

The Chargers switched to the white helmet in 2007. They had worn a white helmet in the 60’s and 70’s. Since 2007, the Chargers helmets have had several bolt color and outline variations. This is based on my research from the Gridiron Uniform Database.

Gold bolt with powder blue and navy outline, 2007-19
Gold bolt with navy blue outline, 2016-19
Gold bolt with powder blue outline, 2020-present
Gold bolt with dark royal blue outline, 2020-23
Navy bolt with navy blue outline, 2020-24

You may note the recent 2020-23 alternate drop is very similar to the 2016-19 alternate helmet, just with a different type of blue (navy blue vs dark royal blue). I will assume the blue outline is different. The colors did change, according to the Chargers branding sites. And they do look different on the Gridiron Uniform Database site. Riddell did not make a factory helmet for the 2016-19 alternate, so it will be difficult to compare.

The table below provides more details about the history since 2007. The full history is on my Chargers pocket helmet site.

Years	Color	Facemask	Logo	Pocket helmet
2007-2018	White	Blue	Gold bolt with powder blue and navy blue outline Worn for one game in 2019 as an alternate	Revolution Speed
2019	White	Gold	Gold bolt with powder blue and navy blue outline	Speed
2016-19 alternate	White	Gold	Gold bolt with navy blue outline	None
2020-present	White	Gold	Gold bolt with powder blue outline, Powder blue player There is no player # on helmet on the factory pocket helmet	Speed
2020-23 alternate	White	Gold	Gold bolt with dark royal blue outline Royal blue player # There is no player # on helmet on the factory pocket helmet	Speed – limited edition series
2020-24 alternate	White	Navy blue	Navy blue bolt with gold outline, Navy blue player #	None
2025 alternate throwback	Navy blue	Navy blue	White bolt with gold and navy blue outline There is no player # on helmet on the factory pocket helmet	Speed – limited edition series

An interesting Commanders redesign

The Commanders are switching to a new primary and alternate again in 2026.

At first, I thought the burgundy primary was the same as the 2025 alternate. It is in every respect except for one detail. The 2025 alternate had a matte finish. The 2026 primary has a gloss finish. The new Commanders primary (along with the new Titans primary) is available for a pre-order on the SESportsMemorabilia website.

The new primary is a clear homage to the 1972-2019 helmet design. The new alternate likely references the 1965-69 arrow helmet. The last time the Commanders wore that helmet as a throwback was in 2003.

What is interesting to me is that there is ZERO reference to the Commanders in this helmet design. In fact, it’s more of a reference to the past than the current Commanders team. I wonder what that means for the future.

Patriots Alternate Rivalry & Bills Drop Promotions

With this announcement, Riddell is almost certainly going to release the 2025 rivalry alternates this year. This helmet has a muted white look with a washed out blue logo. It is kind of an underwhelming design, in my opinion. Riddell didn’t have a lot to work with here. But maybe when the physical helmet arrives, I will have a different opinion.

More information on my Limited Edition site.

Bills Promotional Images

Every limited edition release had the same announcement branding, including the 2026 Seahawks. All of them are on the Limited Edition site, but a sample are below.

The 1987-2001 Bills throwback (from March), however, did not. The first image was from the release day, while the second is from the Riddell website. So, Riddell could be taking a new branding approach.

Interestingly, some of these Bills helmets are still available weeks later. Last year, they were selling out so fast. This surprises me as the Bills are a hot team. And these is a cool looking and unique helmet. We’ll see how the Patriots helmet does.

Bills Throwback Drop!

The Bills 1987-01 throwback dropped today. I love all the Bills logo and helmets. It might be my favorite (and that’s saying something as a Chiefs fan!) Some limited edition helmet facts:

42nd overall limited edition helmet
2nd in 2026 (out of 14)
First Bills limited edition
16th limited edition throwback
The 3rd red limited edition helmet (Texans alternate and Falcons throwback). According to Trucolor.net, the Bills helmet is a scarlet red. Other sources refer to it as plain red.

The Bills have worn four different versions of the red helmet, all between 1987 and 2010 (and the 2026 throwback). They are listed below, along with their pocket helmet history.

1984-1986: Royal blue facemask, white-red-blue stripes – throwback series 2
1987-2001: White facemask, white-red-blue stripes – traditional and chrome
2002-2010: White facemask, white-blue-silver-black stripes – traditional, chrome, revolution
1994 alternate: Plain white Bill logo, white facemask, white-red-blue stripes – no factory helmet

New Titans Primary and Where to get Pocket Helmets

This is the 3rd Titans design and 10th re-design if including the Oilers history (11th if one includes the 1975-96 style, which had a grey and then a red facemask). Read more about the new brand here.

When some sports teams move cities, they make a clean break with their previous brand (like the Ravens or Brewers). Even the Houston Texans colors lean into the Oilers’ colors. The Titans strongly lean into their Oiler history with this new helmet. The rebrand theme is “Born in Oil, Refined into Titans.” It honors both their history with the colors and their current city of Nashville. Note the stripe mirrors guitar strings. I don’t normally like letters in logos, but I think the “T” in the helmet works well by suggesting a shield or “Titan like” weapon.

Interestingly, this is the first Titans/Oilers helmet to have a white facemask. Other colors have been grey, red, or navy. The lighter blue is slightly different than the light blue the Oilers wore. According to teamscolorcodes.com, the Oilers light blue was simply “Light Blue.” This Titans light blue is “Titans blue.” The navy is “Titans navy.”

Where to get factory helmets

A question that comes up a lot is: Where can I buy the factory pocket helmet? I get my factory helmets in one of two places:

SE Sports Memorabilia. I have no stake in this business, but they have great customer service, reasonable prices, and fast shipping. I usually wait until the late summer or early fall so I can bulk order all the new primary helmets. Prices range from $6-8 per helmet.
Ebay. Some sellers on eBay somehow get their hands on new releases before everyone. Expect to pay more on eBay, but you will likely get your helmet sooner. That’s not a criticism of the sellers, by the way. All the sellers I have purchased from on eBay have been awesome. It’s just a business decision.

Speaking of ebay sellers, some really nice new Titans custom primary helmets have popped up. The photo below is from picksixpreviews. Good job!

Seahawks alternate and other factory helmets

My Seahawks alternate rivalries helmet arrived. It’s really nice!

Here are the three factory helmets from 2026.

The Seahawks are one of few teams that have a factory helmet for each era:

Years	Color	Facemask	Logo	Stripes	Pocket helmet
1976-82	Silver	Grey	Classic Seahawk	None	Throwback Series 1 Throwback 2-bar
1983-2001 2023 throwback	Silver	Blue	Classic Seahawk	None	Traditional/ Throwback Series 2 Chrome Speed – limited edition series
2002-11	Teal	Teal	Modern Seahawk	None	Chrome Traditional Revolution
2012-present	Teal	Teal	Modern Seahawk	Tapered blue stripe	Revolution Speed
2025 rivalries altnerate	Iridescent green with metallic chrome finish	Iridescent green	Rivalries Seahawk		Speed – limited edition series

The first 2026 drop: Seahwaks alternate

They’re baaack!

Riddell released the first of what is promised to be 14 NFL pocket helmets in 2026: The Seahawks rivalries alternate. I would assume they will release the other 2025 rivalry alternates in 2026 as well. 525 of each will be released in 2026, or about one every three weeks. Riddell has also released “non limited edition” helmets (like the Bengals orange speed, Bengals white speed, and Eagles kelly green speed), so there could be more on their way.

Riddell also changed the branding announcement. The announcement brands for 2024 and 2025 are on my limited edition website.

There was a little sticker shock…$20! I hope this will not foreshadow all of them will be $20 in 2026. The Seahawks helmet does have unique painting, so maybe that’s the reason. It looks pretty good.

Assuming the other rivalry helmets are included this year, that leaves room for six more. Also assuming the 2025 Bills throwbacks are included this year, that leaves room for four more, possibly newer throwbacks or alternates in 2026. Primary helmets, of course, would not be part of limited edition series releases.

Happy collecting.