By Tucker Bagley, Sports Talk Philly staff writer
No, they won't be kelly green, but it seems like the Eagles may be sporting new jerseys when they hit the field this season.
Since the introduction of the Eagles' midnight green uniforms in 1995, the team's look has stayed relatively unchanged, with the exception of some minor adjustments.
The Birds' most recent uniform changes came in 2014 when the team adopted Nike's Elite 51 template. Perhaps you remember the Eagles being unable to wear their signature midnight green for the majority of that season, due to Nike needing extra time to manufacture jerseys with a "custom color." The Elite 51 template was notorious for its thick "flywire" collar and mesh panels that changed color when a player would sweat.
Now it seems the Eagles will be making minor changes again, switching to Nike's Vapor Untouchable template in 2017. First unveiled at the 2016 Pro Bowl, the design leaked during the NFL Draft when this photo was tweeted out:
Who's it gonna be? #EaglesDraft pic.twitter.com/7RKU85QJHc
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) April 26, 2017
Notice the smaller collar and the "vented mesh grille" that is supposed to improve ventilation. In addition, all the seams on the jersey are located on the back, which certainly makes for a much cleaner look.
However, it took until this weekend for us to see this jersey on a player:
Looking fly, @mackhollins ✅
(Photo: Ben Liebenberg/NFL) pic.twitter.com/GZ7coHpbEy
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 21, 2017
The Vapor Untouchable is a significant improvement from the Elite 51 template. With the smaller collar and sleeker design, it looks a lot like what the Eagles wore during the Andy Reid era.
NFL regulations state a team can only change their uniforms every three years, so the Eagles are eligible to make alterations in 2017. We probably won't get any sort of official confirmation until the team wears them in their first preseason game, but if they're allowing their rookies to pose for promotional pictures in these uniforms, it seems safe to say this new look will be sticking around for the next few seasons.