Mike Tomlin takes shot at Browns GM Andrew Berry after Joe Flacco trade

Mike Tomlin was floored by the Cleveland Browns trading QB Joe Flacco in division to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Pittsburgh Steelers head coach saw his QB, Aaron Rodgers, and crew beat the Browns Sunday to improve to 4-1.

Flacco started for the Browns opening day until he was benched the last two weeks for rookie Diollon Gabriel. The Bengals struggled without Joe Burrow under center due to injury and decided to take a flier on Flacco via trade to start in front of Jake Browning.

But that didn’t make an in-division trade any less stunning. So, Tomlin took a bit of a backhanded shot at Browns’ GM Andrew Berry.

“To be honest, it was shocking to me,” Tomlin said. “Andrew Berry must be a lot smarter than me or us because it doesn’t make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your opening-day starter to a division opponent that’s hurting in that area, but that’s just my personal feelings.”

The Bengals, with Flacco under center, lost to the Green Bay Packers 27-18 Sunday. The state line suggested Flacco played relatively well too: 29-of-45 passing for 219 yards and two touchdowns.

Cincinnati didn’t have much of a running game though. They had 55 net yards in total.

Cincinnati marks Flacco’s third different stop around the AFC North. Flacco began his career with the Baltimore Ravens, where he played from 2008-2018 and won a Super Bowl in 2013. He spent 2023 with the Browns and returned to the franchise this season, where he started the first four games.

Browning was extremely serviceable in 2023 when he was promoted to Cincinnati’s QB1 following Burrow’s season-ending right wrist injury, but that has not been the case this season. Although he did lead the Bengals on a game-winning touchdown drive to down the Jaguars in Week 2, the next three weeks were an utter disaster for the organization, turning them to Flacco.

In Browning’s first start of the season, the Bengals were walloped by the Minnesota Vikings 48-10 in a game where he threw two interceptions. He was then held without a touchdown in Cincinnati’s 28-3 loss to the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football and threw three interceptions in a 37-24 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Flacco and the Bengals will be back in action, ironically, against the Steelers. The game is set for a Thursday night kickoff this week in Cincinnati.