I just don't understand why people seem surprised by this when Verizon has been doing this for years. At least it's not as bad as the Note 2, which had the logo right on the home button. I'm certainly not defending Verizon, but of all things, this just doesn't seem like something to get upset over (but that's just my opinion); and even if you don't like it, there's no way you can be that surprised to see it.
I'd be willing to be almost any amount of money that VZW will never get another Nexus phone. (at least not as an exclusive, they'd have to be willing to allow unlocked non-verizon devices on their network, which I also don't see happening any time soon).