Mike Tomlin has seen plenty of Joe Flacco through the years. He’ll see the veteran quarterback again on “Thursday Night Football” this week, as Flacco makes his second start for the Cincinnati Bengals, who acquired him from the Cleveland Browns in an intra-division trade last week.
Meeting with the media on Monday, Tomlin shared a frank assessment of that trade.
“To be honest, it was shocking to me,” Tomlin said. “(Browns general manager) 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 feeling.”
Flacco spent the first 11 years of his NFL career with the Baltimore Ravens after being drafted by the team in 2008, one year after Tomlin became the Steelers’ coach. Since the Ravens traded him to the Denver Broncos before the 2019 season, Flacco has bounced around the league. That has included two stops with the Browns, the second of which began when the team signed him to a one-year deal in April. Flacco won Cleveland’s starting job during training camp, but threw two touchdowns and six interceptions over four games, after which he was benched in favor of rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
The Browns traded Flacco to the Bengals, who have struggled since losing Joe Burrow to a toe injury after the second game of the season. The Bengals added Flacco in exchange for a Day 3 pick swap in the 2026 NFL Draft, and immediately made him their starter. Flacco threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns in a road loss to the Packers on Sunday.
“(The trade) certainly made sense from Cincinnati’s perspective,” Tomlin said. “He can throw the football, and he’s always been able to throw the football. Arm strength, arm accuracy, anticipatory passer, fluid movement through progressions — that’s always been his game.”
Asked on Monday about Tomlin’s comments on the Browns being willing to trade with a division rival, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said: “I was happy. That’s my only comment.”
In Week 5 last season, Flacco, then playing for Indianapolis, came on in relief of an injured Anthony Richardson and rallied the Colts to a 27-24 victory over the Steelers. Including the postseason, Thursday’s game will be the 26th time Flacco has faced Tomlin’s Steelers; Pittsburgh is 13-12 in those matchups.
Paul Dehner Jr. contributed to this article.
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