Tim Benz: Mike Tomlin might have said even more about the Joe Flacco trade than he let on

For as much as Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin had to say about Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry during his press conference this week, plenty more was expressed while remaining unsaid.

Tomlin’s club faces the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night. They recently acquired veteran quarterback Joe Flacco from the Browns in a trade for a 2026 fifth-round draft choice.

Given that the Browns and Bengals are fellow AFC North rivals of the Steelers, Tomlin was asked his opinion of the trade.

He didn’t hold back.

“To be honest, it was shocking to me,” Tomlin said. “Andrew Berry must be a lot smarter than me or us. 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 feeling.”

Mike Tomlin: "Andrew Berry must be much smarter than me."

Is mystified the Browns traded their Wk1 starting QB to a division rival in-season pic.twitter.com/Bc9aFJa8No

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) October 13, 2025

Unless Tomlin was having an out-of-body experience and decided to randomly start spitting hot football takes like a radio talk show host, that opinion felt like it was loaded with some sort of personal or professional discontent.

Or both.

Berry took the direct hit on that volley from Tomlin, but some other people caught a few strays.

Without mentioning his name, that’s quite a diss of former Bengals starter Jake Browning. It’s obvious Tomlin would’ve much preferred to face Browning as the Bengals’ starting QB than Flacco.

That’s understandable. It’s just very unlike Tomlin to make such feelings about an opponent so obvious during a game week.

Also, if Tomlin is clearly so agitated by Flacco being traded to the Bengals, he must also think that the Browns would’ve been manageable to beat even with Flacco, but the Bengals may not be so easily dismissed.

Cleveland.com writer Terry Pluto theorized that Tomlin may have been offended by the Browns waving a white flag on the season just two weeks into October.

”Tomlin probably can’t understand why a team basically gives up on a season after only five games. The Browns were 1-4 at the time of the deal,” Pluto said. “In Pittsburgh, you never write off a season, period. … Pittsburgh is old school. The Steelers don’t believe in a massive rebuild. Their goal every season is to make the playoffs and then see if they can get hot.”

Eh, maybe. But I think Tomlin is too much of a pragmatist to have football sensibilities that are so delicate and easily upset.

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If Tomlin thinks football etiquette has been violated in any way, maybe it’s more a matter of seeing a coach have so little involvement in a decision of that magnitude. After all, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said he didn’t know it was coming.

”My guess is Tomlin would not have objected if the Browns had traded Flacco to a team in another conference,” Pluto continued. “But in the AFC North? That’s a football mortal sin to him.”

OK. Yeah. That part I’ll echo.

Again, though, I wonder if there is more to it than that. One weird trade like this seems awfully sudden to set off a realist like Tomlin.

Then again, it isn’t just one trade, is it? Berry is the guy who executed the massive Deshaun Watson trade and contract that reset the quarterback market as the Steelers were trying to find their way through the post-Ben Roethlisberger era.

Berry is the general manager who gave Myles Garrett $123 million as the Steelers were trying to work out a contract for T.J. Watt.

So this isn’t exactly the first time the whims of Berry and Browns’ ownership have had a negative ripple effect on the Steelers.

To be clear, Berry shouldn’t have to give a flying fig what Tomlin thinks. As Tomlin pointed out, it’s just his “personal feeling.”

One thing I wonder is why Tomlin seems so on edge about facing Flacco. Sure, he’s better than Browning, and Flacco does have 12 wins (including the playoffs) against the Steelers.

But this is the second time in recent weeks (dating to his recent reference about last year’s loss to Flacco and the Indianapolis Colts) that Tomlin has spoken about Joe Flacco like he is Joe Montana.

Granted, it’s a divisional game. That said, Tomlin has lost in Cincinnati when the Bengals had Ryan Finley. He has lost to post-Flacco teams in Baltimore with the likes of Anthony Brown, Tyler Huntley and late-stage Robert Griffin III at quarterback. Browns quarterbacks such as Brandon Weeden, Brian Hoyer and Dorian Thompson-Robinson have beaten Tomlin’s teams over the years.

Browning isn’t all that dissimilar to that motley crew.

Sure, I’d rather see him than Flacco too. But this is a rare week, something Tomlin said may have created a distraction going into a game, as opposed to one of his players doing so.

Tomlin didn’t film himself dancing on a logo like JuJu Smith-Schuster, but he knew that quote would get attention.

For his sake now, his pass rush better be what gets Flacco’s attention Thursday.

LISTEN: Tim Benz and Joe Rutter discuss Mike Tomlin’s press conference in advance of Thursday’s game vs. the Bengals.