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‘Andrew Berry Must Be a Lot Smarter than Me’ – Mike Tomlin Takes a Dig at Browns’ GM after Joe Flacco Traded to the Bengals

Mike Tomlin was bemused with the Browns trade that landed Joe Flacco in Cincinnati!

Mandatory Credit: Imagn Images

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was shellshocked once he came to know that the Cleveland Browns had traded their veteran quarterback Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals. The longtime Steelers coach was very well aware of Flacco’s capabilities, having played against him on several occasions in the past.

What led to Flacco’s Trade?

The Bengals were clearly in a position of bother after starting quarterback Joe Burrow was set to miss most of the regular season after suffering a turf toe injury in week 2. The Bengals inserted backup quarterback Jake Browning as the starter, but that move didn’t work out too well.

Cincinnati needed a better presence under center, and it was the Browns who answered. Having gone 1-3 in the first four games of the season with the Browns, Cleveland benched Flacco and handed over the keys to the offense to rookie Dillon Gabriel. But even before Flacco sat on the bench, the Browns shipped him off to the Bengals, a move that surprised many.

Ja'Marr Chase set a Bengals record in his second game with Joe Flacco 😮 pic.twitter.com/6dSmpOegfC
— ESPN (@espn) October 17, 2025

Mike Tomlin Comments on the Flacco Trade

During a media session, Mike Tomlin shared his thoughts about the Browns trading Flacco. Sounding baffled at the idea, Tomlin responded sarcastically as he failed to grasp what had just happened.

“It was shocking to me,” said Tomlin. “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.”

Shots fired: #Steelers HC Mike Tomlin on Cleveland trading Joe Flacco to the Bengals:

“Andrew Berry must be a lot smarter than me or us because it doesn’t make sense to me to trade a QB you think enough of to make your opening-day starter to a division opponent that’s hurting in… pic.twitter.com/aQJKCxCUaJ
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 13, 2025

It was quite clear through Tomlin’s witty response just how highly he rates Flacco as a quarterback in this league. Not only is Flacco one of the more experienced players at his position, but he is also a Super Bowl-winner with the Baltimore Ravens. And while he may not be in his prime anymore, he can surely do quite the damage on a capable team.

Joe Flacco Against the Steelers on Sunday

In continuation of the above point, there were doubts about how successful Flacco would be behind a Bengals’ O-line that has been nothing but abysmal. Having said that, the veteran signal caller recognized the manner of urgency required to get the ball out quickly.

With premier wide receivers such as Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to throw to, Flacco proved Tomlin’s point by dissecting the Steelers’ secondary in last night’s Thursday Night Football prime-time game.

What a performance from Joe Flacco on TNF! pic.twitter.com/tuifniN6du
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 17, 2025

Flacco finished with 342 passing yards and 3 touchdowns, outdueling the likes of Aaron Rodgers on the other side. In fact, Flacco was a key piece of the offense that put up 33 points on Pittsburgh as the Bengals defeated the Steelers 33-31 after the man of the hour, Joe Flacco, led a game-winning drive.

Now, it is all up to Dillon Gabriel to prove that the Browns made the correct call in trading their most experienced player. If Gabriel doesn’t fire quickly, Cleveland’s management should be ready for plenty of backlash as the season progresses.

Mandatory Credit: Imagn Images

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Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!