Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin shared some strong feelings about the Browns’ decision to trade quarterback Joe Flacco within the division last week.
Flacco was sent to the Bengals, who had lost three straight games with Jake Browning filling in for the injured Joe Burrow. They lost again to the Packers in Flacco’s debut on Sunday, but Tomlin is still scratching his head about Browns General Manager Andrew Berry’s choice to move the quarterback to an AFC North team that was reeling.
“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 starter to a divisional opponent that’s hurting in that area. But that’s just my personal feeling.”
Tomlin went on to say that the trade “certainly made sense from the Cincinnati perspective” and called Flacco a “saavy” player who should be “significantly better” in Thursday night’s game against the Steelers because he will have more time to absorb the offense. Whether that will be enough to beat the Steelers, who beat the Flacco-less Browns 23-9 on Sunday, remains to be seen, but Tomlin’s overall feelings about the trade couldn’t be any clearer.