Steelers' Mike Tomlin takes shot at Browns for Joe Flacco trade: 'Andrew Berry must be a lot smarter than me'

The Cincinnati Bengals made a surprising trade when they acquired former Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco and a sixth-round pick in exchange for a fifth-round pick. This shocked the NFL world for multiple reasons. One, if the Bengals wanted a new starting quarterback, why opt for the 40-year-old Flacco? And two, why would the Browns help out their rival by giving them their former starting quarterback?

The Bengals host the Pittsburgh Steelers for Thursday Night Football this week, and the Flacco trade caught Steelers coach Mike Tomlin by surprise, as well. He appeared to take a shot at Browns general manager Andrew Berry for helping Cincinnati out with its quarterback situation. 

"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." 

While the Browns constructed the most interesting quarterback room in the NFL with Flacco, Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett, NFL Media's Mike Garafolo reported that Flacco never really got pushed during this highly publicized competition. The Browns then gave up on Flacco after just four games, and sent him to a rival that's trying to make the playoffs.

In Flacco's first start for the Bengals, a 27-18 loss to the Green Bay Packers, he completed 29 of 45 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the 16th player in NFL history to throw a passing touchdown for six different teams. Despite playing with a new squad on a short week, Flacco appeared to be an upgrade over Jake Browning. The 2-4 Bengals sit in second place in the AFC North behind Tomlin's 4-1 Steelers.