Super Bowl Winning Coach Has Harsh Words About Mike Tomlin's Reaction to Joe Flacco Trade

CINCINNATI — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin made headlines Monday afternoon after taking a shot at Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry for trading quarterback Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals. It's a rare trade between division rivals—and even rarer to see in the AFC North.

“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,” Tomlin said. “But that’s just my personal feelings.”

Bengals fans should be absolutely over the moon at these comments, as this makes it very clear Tomlin was expecting to face Jake Browning on Thursday Night Football in a game that could decide the winner of the AFC North very early in the season.

It gets even better when former NFL head coach Bruce Arians doubled down on that statement by Tomlin on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday afternoon.

"Total Bulls***. What are you thinking?" Arians asked. "First of all Pittsburgh's your big rival, Cincinnati is your next biggest rival... Why would you trade him to Cincinnati? If I'm gonna trade him, make it a sixth round pick for somewhere else, but I ain't trading him within the division. All of a sudden, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins have 20 targets, Ja'Marr Chase has 10 receptions, almost 100 yards in one week, couldn't get the damn ball to him the other three weeks, and now Pittsburgh's gotta play him [Flacco] Thursday night."

It did not stop there though, as Arians laid out just how much Joe Flacco can impact the Bengals offense over Jake Browning.

"He [Tomlin] does not wanna see Joe and those receivers, and say "S***, we had them right where we wanted them, and you go and trade this guy to our division rivals?" Arians said. "Yeah it makes no sense to me."

Thursday's game is a must-win for the Bengals after four-straight losses and a 2-4 record. Meanwhile, the Steelers currently sit at 4-1 and are in first place in the AFC North.

Things feel vastly different in the Queen City after the Bengals went out and acquired Flacco from the Browns, especially after showing some signs of improvement on offense last week in Green Bay. There is a reason to hope that the Bengals can gain a much needed victory and keep their season alive on Thursday night, and comments like these from opposing coaches and analysts only affirms that the hope is not misguided.

Watch Arians' reaction below. For Ja'Marr Chase and Flacco's reaction to the comments, go here.

"That's total bullshit..

If you're gonna trade a Quarterback trade him outside of the division" ~ @BruceArians #PMSLive https://t.co/5EhRHEGTgi pic.twitter.com/YKL0QRDoQD
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 14, 2025

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