The Pittsburgh Steelers have not been able to stay out of headlines for what seems like the entire 2025 NFL league year. There were countless moves made by the front office leading up to the start of the regular season, but even after a 4-1 start, the organization has been in the sports news cycle consistently. Most recently, criticism of Acrisure Stadium has run rampant after a choppy Week 6 game against the Cleveland Browns. Additionally, Head Coach Mike Tomlin publicly criticized an AFC North rival general manager in Andrew Berry for trading Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns Executive Vice President of Football Operations Andrew Berry hangs out with Head Coach Kevin Stefanski in an office at the team's facility.
Cleveland Head Coach Kevin Stefanski and Tomlin don't just have history with one another because of their AFC North battles. The two also coached together on the Minnesota Vikings' staff back in 2006 when Stefanski was working as an assistant to the head coach, and Tomlin operated as the defensive coordinator. Although the two were in the same organization for a short time, they have a good relationship.
It was quite shocking when, only five weeks in the 2025 campaign, the Browns made the interesting move to trade their opening-week starter in Flacco to the Bengals, a franchise that was in desperation mode when it came to the quarterback position. It was even more of a surprise when Tomlin, who usually speaks in riddles, directly criticized Berry for the transaction.
Mike Tomlin: "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 DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) October 13, 2025
Stefanski mentioned that it took him by surprise when Flacco was traded. While no one is hinting at Berry sabotaging the Browns' efforts to win games now, NFL insider Aditi Kinkhabwala went on The PM Team w/Poni & Mueller on Wednesday to discuss the subject.
When asked if Tomlin and Stefanski are close, and if that could have led to Tomlin protecting Cleveland's head coach, the reporter made it clear that a thought process as such is completely believable.
"I was chatting with a friend yesterday whose been in the NFL for a long time and he posited essentially the same thing," Kinkhabwala said. "Maybe Mike Tomlin is standing up for Kevin [Stefanski] in a way that Kevin himself cannot, and it seems like an awfully collegial thing to do. I don't know Mike to necessarily do that, to stand up for other coaches, but that would be pretty cool if that was part of his motivation as well."
Cleveland has two rookie quarterbacks on the roster, and one could argue it made sense to trade Flacco after his benching, but it still seems counterproductive to move him to an AFC North franchise that really needed another option aside from Jake Browning. Tomlin could have been letting Berry hear it because it's not fair for Stefanski to operate in what comes off as such a dysfunctional situation.
Nick Cammett / Getty Images
Browns Head Coach Kevin Stefanski greets Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin near midfield after their teams played one another in a professional football game in Cleveland, OH.
It's not normal for Tomlin, or any head coach for that matter, to blatantly call out a division rival's general manager, but Tomlin did not mince words in any form or fashion. Hired by the Steelers in 2007, Tomlin certainly has a lot more credibility than most teams' leaders, so he may have been sending a message to the NFL world that Berry is doing wrong by his entire staff when he makes decisions such as the one to trade Flacco.
Tony Dejak / Associated Press
Cleveland Browns General Manager Andrew Berry stands at a podium while he fields questions and answers them in front of the media.
Steelers Are Hoping Flacco's Experience Doesn't Affect Their Success In 2025
Flacco knows a thing or two about playing Pittsburgh. He has spent nearly his entire career in the AFC North, and the only team within the division that he has now not played for is the Steelers. Tomlin and co. certainly would rather Browning in at quarterback based on his lack of veteran prowess alone, but that is no longer the case thanks to Berry. Tomlin made sure to let the whole world know who should be held accountable for the rare intra-division trade.
Do you think that the Steelers will be negatively affected by Berry's decision to deal Flacco to the Bengals? Let us know in the comments below!
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