Browns new helmet, explained: What to know about Cleveland's white facemask, other changes for 2024

Browns new helmet, explained: What to know about Cleveland’s white facemask, other changes for 2024

A handful of NFL teams are redesigning their uniforms ahead of the 2024 season, but the Browns are making a more subtle change with a different era in mind.

Cleveland unveiled an updated helmet and logo Wednesday, with an eye toward reviving a classic era of Browns football that included one of the most successful stretches in franchise history under QB Bernie Kosar.

The Browns left their classic uniforms alone, however. Cleveland switched back to their timeless look in 2020, and the NFL’s five-year rule for uniforms prevents a change in 2025. There isn’t any indication the franchise is looking to overhaul its uniforms to begin with, as they closely match the old school helmet revealed Wednesday.

Here’s a first look at the Browns’ new helmet and logo for the 2024 NFL season.

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Browns new helmet 2024

The Browns’ helmet remains a plain orange with brown and white stripes over the top, as is tradition for the franchise, but Cleveland is making two notable changes: The facemask has turned from brown to white, and the helmet finish was updated from matte to glossy.

The changes closely resemble the Browns’ look from 1975-2005. Cleveland donned a white facemask throughout that 31-year stretch before switching to gray in 2006.

The Browns brought back the white facemask as an alternate over the last two seasons, wearing it once in both 2022 and 2023.

Browns executive vice president JW Johnson said in a release that the change honors the franchise’s “storied history” and said the white facemask is partly a tribute to the Kardiac Kids era of 1979 and 1980. Cleveland’s announcement also noted the success the team had in white facemasks with Kosar at quarterback in the late 1980s.

The Browns have largely reversed all of the changes made in 2015, when they modernized their uniform set and updated their logo to reflect a helmet with a brown facemask. Cleveland first returned to its classic uniforms in 2020, putting a five-year stretch that included a winless season behind them, and the organization is now moving away from the matte helmets that were introduced as part of that change in 2015.

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Browns helmet 2023

Here’s a comparison of the Browns’ helmet from 2023 to 2024, with changes evident in both the facemask and the finish.

Browns new logo 2024

The Browns’ helmet change might seem minor, but it actually requires a logo change as well. Cleveland’s logo has long been its helmet, so any change in that department also means a logo update.

The new helmet with the white facemask is set to become the Browns’ primary logo, after their logo for the last nine years reflected the team’s brown facemask. Prior to 2015, the logo included a gray facemask.

“Now, the logo will once again reflect the helmets worn on gameday,” the Browns announced. The Browns’ website and social media accounts already includes the updated logo with a white facemask.

Cleveland has operated with a helmet as its primary logo since 1970. This is the seventh different variation of the logo, between facemask changes and updates to the shade of orange the team uses, but it’s a look unique to the Browns that doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.