Cleveland shocked most of the NFL world last week when they shipped their Week 1 starting quarterback, Joe Flacco, to Cincinnati to swap up from round six to round five in next year's draft. The offense has been abysmal, and it's clear 2025 isn't a contending year for the Browns, so the focus has shifted to evaluating players who can impact the roster beyond this season. The Browns weren't looking to move Flacco, but when a team called and offered compensation for someone slated to ride the bench in what could be his last season, the Browns didn't hesitate to move him.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was among those surprised at the move. He wasn't shy when offering some criticism for Andrew Berry's decision to ship the Week 1 starter to a divisional rival as they navigate the Joe Burrow injury.
Mike Tomlin questions Andrew Berry's decision to trade Joe Flacco to divisional rival
Per ESPN's Brooke Pryor, Tomlin gave a lengthy response and called Berry out by name for making the move. He admitted it was just his personal feelings, but was very clearly taking a shot at Cleveland's decision makers.
"It was shocking to me. 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."Mike Tomlin on Joe Flacco trade
If the Browns were anywhere near the Steelers' situation in 2025, his sentiment would be entirely valid. Trading someone good enough to start Week 1 to a divisional rival that needs an upgrade at quarterback to salvage any hope for the division title sounds crazy. The only problem with that is that Cleveland is in an evaluation year and is focusing more on the future than anything in 2025. It was clearly time to see what the two rookie draft picks can do, and the Browns aren't too worried about what Flacco and the Bengals do in 2025, since it probably won't impact them.
On top of that, Cleveland has a ton of respect and love for Flacco and probably didn't want him to sit on the bench as the last days of his career pass. Instead, they were able to do right by Flacco and send him somewhere he will be able to start for the foreseeable future.
I would also be annoyed with the move in Tomlin's shoes, as I'd much rather face Jake Browning on Thursday night and have Browning be the quarterback for the team right behind them in the standings. He's also never had to think about anything other than the present with that organization, but it's not too hard to understand why a team looking more towards the future would make this move.