The New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints have been the smartest spenders in the NFL over the past five seasons, according to a study by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg calculates how much teams spent per win and added bonuses for playoffs wins and championships.

1. New England Patriots
2. Green Bay Packers
3. New York Giants
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
5. New Orleans Saints
6. Baltimore Ravens
7. Indianapolis Colts
8. San Diego Chargers
9. Atlanta Falcons
10. Philadelphia Eagles
11. Arizona Cardinals
12. Tennessee Titans 
13. New York Jets
14. Dallas Cowboys
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16. Chicago Bears
17. Jacksonville Jaguars
18. San Francisco 49ers
19. Houston Texans
20. Minnesota Vikings
21. Denver Broncos
22. Cincinnati Bengals
23. Seattle Seahawks
24. Carolina Panthers
25. Kansas City Chiefs
26. Miami Dolphins
27. Buffalo Bills
28. Cleveland Browns
29. Washington Redskins
30. Oakland Raiders
31. Detroit Lions
32. St. Louis Rams 

The Carolina Panthers have acquired special teams star Colin Jones from the San Francisco 49ers for a seventh round pick.

Jones was a sixth round pick out of TCU in 2011.

Carolina showed interest in signing Jones last season when he was on the 49ers' practice squad.

Jones finished the season with eight tackles and seven "big plays" as graded by special teams coordinator Brad Seely.

The Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens have the three oldest collections of starters in the NFL. 

The Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks and Cincinnati Bengals are the youngest.

Former Vikings head coach Bud Grant had a popular saying that "for every young guy you start, you lose a game."

Pete Carroll worked for Grant early in his coaching career, but has had one of the youngest teams in the NFL during his tenure with the Seahawks.

"I was of that mindset in classic fashion until I had to be in charge of calling all the shots and then it just flipped in me that we don't know where we're going unless we find these guys out," Carroll said. "One of the really exciting things about playing guys early is ... by the middle and to the end of the season, you’ve developed players that fit into your rotations now that add to your depth and also add to the opportunity to not over-play your older guys." 

Below is a full list with the rank in offense/defense in parenthesis.

1. Atlanta Falcons (2/5)
2. San Diego Chargers (7/3)
3. Baltimore Ravens (1/15)
4. Chicago Bears (11/4)
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (25/1)
6. New York Jets (23/2)
7. New York Giants (9/2)
8. Detroit Lions (3/20)
9. New Orleans Saints (6/13)
10. San Francisco 49ers (8/8)
11. Denver Broncos (14/7)
12. Houston Texans (4/23)
13. Oakland Raiders (13/11)
14. Buffalo Bills (12/17)
15. Arizona Cardinals (16/14)
16. Washington Redskins (21/9)
17. Dallas Cowboys (18/16)
18. New England Patriots (5/28)
19. Green Bay Packers (17/21)
20. Jacksonville Jaguars (24/19)
21. Miami Dolphins (26/18)
22. Carolina Panthers (15/26)
23. Indianapolis Colts (28/10)
24. Philadelphia Eagles (19/25)
25. Tennessee Titans (10/31)
26. Minnesota Vikings (30/12)
27. St. Louis Rams (22/27)
28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (20/30)
29. Cleveland Browns (31/24)
30. Cincinnati Bengals (32/22)
31. Seattle Seahawks (29/29)
32. Kansas City Chiefs (27/32) 

The Panthers are treating Sunday night's preseason game against the Jets like it is their regular-season opener.

Carolina has game-planned for New York and will play their starters into the third quarter.

They've even used simulated crowd noise in practice, a rarity for a preseason game. Ron Rivera has spoken repeatedly to his players about performing on a "big stage" in front of a national television audience.

"I feel as if every stage is big for us this year," Cam Newton said. "We have a point to prove and we have to have that chip on our shoulder each and every game."

The Bears have the best uniforms in the NFL, according to Paul Lukas of Uni Watch.

"True, the helmet design is starting to look a tad dated," writes Lukas. "But the striped sleeves, striped socks (now a rarity in the NFL, alas), unique number font, and even the perma-memorial to Papa Bear all score major points, and the Bears may be the only team in the league who look as sharp on the road as they do at home. The cream of the NFL crop."

The Packers, Steelers, Raiders and Eagles round out the top-five.

"Just suit up, baby," writes Lukas about the Raiders. "Silver and black look just as good today as they did when Al Davis came up with them. There's probably some marketer out there who wants the team to dress up like the fans in the Black Hole (and hey, that actually could be fun as a one-off thing), but you don't mess with something this elemental. Also: The Raiders are among the few NFL teams that wisely have declined to adopt the new Nike collar format."

6. Cowboys
7. Bills
8. 49ers
9. Dolphins
19. Buccaneers
11. Chiefs
12. Chargers
13. Jets
14. Colts
15. Patriots
16. Browns
17. Redskins
18. Giants
19. Titans 
20. Texans
21. Rams
22. Saints
23. Ravens
24. Broncos
25. Falcons
26. Lions
27. Seahawks
28. Jaguars
29. Cardinals
30. PAnthers
31. Vikings
32. Bengals 

Brandon LaFell believes Cam Newton the Panthers have as good of a group of receivers as any team in the NFL.

LaFell is Carolina's No. 2 wide receiver, lining up on the opposite side as Steve Smith.

“We’ve got guys that can compete with anybody,” LaFell said. “I don’t feel like there’s a secondary that really can stop us because we’ve got as many guys as anyone else has that can get open and make plays.”

The Panthers are waiting on David Gettis to return to field. Gettis missed the 2011 season due to a torn ACL and is currently injured with a hamstring.

“It’s my job to get healthy. And when it’s my time to play, to show them what I can do,” Gettis said. “It’s been a year, so I understand I have to go out there and re-show myself. Just do my job and let everything else take care of itself.”

LaFell had 613 yards in 2011 at an average of 17 yards per catch.

“I feel like every year I go into is my year, and definitely this year,” LaFell said. “It’s my third year. These guys are giving me a big role. … I feel like Smitty’s going to do his thing. And if I can give our offense another reliable weapon on the other side, that’ll help out this whole team.”

Steve Smith has an infection in his left foot.

Smith missed Panthers' practice on Wednesday and was spotted on crutches.

Smith has practiced once since last week's game against the Dolphins.

The Panthers believe Greg Olsen is poised for a big season without Jeremy Shockey on the roster to steal away catches.

In addition, the arrival of fullback Mike Tolbert should lighten Olsen's load as a blocker.

Ron Rivera believes "it's possible" Olsen could put up numbers similar to what Rob Gronkowski (Patriots) and Jimmy Graham (Saints) did last season.

"This will be his first real opportunity with us to step up and be the starting tight end and be the guy," Rivera said. "You watch him catch footballs and you watch him run routes and you see those traits that say you can fit right into that group. We're excited about it."

The Panthers have eight players in ESPN's Top-200, led by Steve Smith at No. 28. Carolina leads the NFC South in the ratings, ahead of the Falcons and Saints with seven apiece.

Jordan Gross (74), Cam Newton (85), Jon Beason (112), Ryan Kalil (141), Jonathan Stewart (144), Charles Johnson (163) and Chris Gamble (190) are the members of the Panthers also included.

Rookie Ryan Tannehill will start for the Dolphins on Friday night in their preseason game against the Panthers.

Matt Moore started last week's preseason opener.