PITTSBURGH --Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin ripped the Cleveland Browns trading Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals in their own division.
Flacco, who is now a member of the Bengals and will play for Cincinnati this Thursday against the Steelers, says the trade made by Browns general manager Andrew Berry made little sense to him at the time it was made, especially given the veteran-savvy passer that Flacco is at this stage in his career.
“I was shocked, to be honest with you. Andrew Berry must be a lot smarter than me or us, because it makes no 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,” Tomlin said.
The Browns benched Flacco for Dillon Gabriel, who started against the Steelers on Sunday. Moving forward, it will be him and Shedeur Sanders who will get the majority of the practice reps, and Sanders is expected to play at some point this season.
Yet, trading Flacco caught Tomlin and a lot people off guard. It is rare to trade players in the division, let alone quarterbacks to a team ailing in that area.
The Bengals are without Joe Burrow for most of this season with a turf toe injury that required surgery. Now, they hope the move to land Flacco at least gives them a higher floor moving forward.
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