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.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft might be biased, but he believes that Tom Brady is better than Joe Montana was during his playing days.

"I think that Tommy, with all due respect, is better than Joe Montana," said Kraft. "I know that's a leap, but I really think he might already be the best of all time. I watch how involved he is, how driven he is. He's like (Bill) Belichick, he's into the details. And he's got a skill that makes him so special, he can process all of it so quickly. ... And then, he's just got that quality. Certain people have that sincerity. He's a very genuine guy. People can relate to him. People can trust him."

Kraft admitted that he isn't unbiased.

"He's like a fifth son to me. He's special," he said.

The Harbaugh's have a combined 5-0 record on Kickoff Weekend.

John Harbaugh is 4-0 during his tenure with the Baltimore Ravens, while Jim Harbaugh won his opener last season with the San Francisco 49ers against the Seahawks.

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 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 Jacobs will make the 49ers' 53-man roster.

Jacobs gained 39 yards on five carries in his preseason appearances, but will sit out the remaining games due to a left knee injury.

Alex Smith enters his second season in Jim Harbaugh's system and has reached a new level comfort that he hasn't experienced during his time with the 49ers.

"(He) totally understands the offense now," said offensive coordinator Greg Roman. "He can recite things. He can fix things. Understands where people are. When you go back and look at our first early games last season, just getting through a straight progression was a work in progress relative to where it was late in the season relative to what it is now.

"He's getting through his reads quicker. He's eliminating reads earlier. Really just taking ownership of our offense. He understands all the different things that we do. He's really,really, really intelligent, bright football player. Really intelligent. He is super smart. Savant like at times."

The 49ers want Smith to give up fewer sacks, as he led the NFL in the category in 2011 with 44. Smith only threw five interceptions, which was the positive byproduct of the sacks.

"The one thing that Alex did through all that, a historically great job of protecting the football," Roman said.

The 49ers were well represented in ESPN's Top-200 players in the NFL.

Justin Smith was ranked tenth, followed by Patrick Willis at 12, Aldon Smith at 51, Vernon Davis at 65, NaVorro Bowman at 80, Mike Iupati at 103, Carlos Rogers at 175, Joe Staley at 176, Andy Lee at 183 and Dashon Goldson at 184.

Alex Smith is the 25th rated quarterback, behind Matt Hasselbeck, Kyle Orton and Matt Flynn.

Following Saturday night's preseason game against the Texans, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh commented on the state of the NFL's officiating.

The league is using replacements while the permanent officials are engaged in a labor dispute.

Harbaugh initially said that "per instructions, I will not be commenting on the officiating", but could no longer keep quiet.

"Our guys, as they do a lot, they tightened up toward the red zone and held them to field goals. Big interference call in third quarter was some big yardage on that drive," Harbaugh said.

"I don't know. It's interesting. I don't have the pulse on this game. What was it exactly? Us? Them? Some crazy, wild calls. Were they accurate? Weren't they? We'll see. I have a headache (from yelling) though. I have a darned headache. A lot them (the calls) didn't seem like they were in the ballpark."