The Pittsburgh Steelers made one of the more noteworthy trades during the NFL Draft as they dealt wide receiver Martavis Bryant to the Oakland Raiders for a third-round pick. The move apparently took quarterback Ben Roethlisberger a bit by surprise.

“When I heard about Martavis, I was like ‘Oh, man.’ I really enjoyed playing with Martavis,” Roethlisberger said, per Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I think he was a great weapon, he helped our offense, did some great things by attracting attention and making plays for us. I was kind of caught off guard, but teams have reasons for doing things. I think part of it was him expressing trade things that we all heard so much about. I think he’s probably pretty happy. For him and his family, if you’re in a good happy place, then good for him.”

It was a bit surprising to hear that Big Ben didn’t see this move coming. Since Bryant made it known of desire to get traded from Pittsburgh last season, there has since been a lot of speculation surrounding his future. He was also in the final year of his contract, which also added another factor to Pittsburgh's decision-making. Perhaps Roethlisberger just doesn’t concern himself with those types of rumors.

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But while Big Ben lost a great receiving weapon in Bryant, he’ll still have a host of other top targets at his disposal with Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith Schuster, and LeVeon Bell (once he gets his contract situation sorted out). The Steelers also drafted rookie James Washington, who had some big-play potential in college.

So despite Roethlisberger’s initial surprise by the Bryant deal, he should still be fairly pleased with the status of the Steelers offense heading into the new season.