ORLANDO, FLA. — The Browns quarterback situation during the course of last season would've seemed outlandish for a 6-11 team. For a team that went 11-6 and made the playoffs, it's beyond the pale.

The Browns joined the 1984 Chicago Bears as the only team to make the playoffs despite starting five different quarterbacks. Four of those quarterbacks — starter Deshaun Watson, as well as replacements Dorian Thompson-Robinson, P.J. Walker and, most notably, Joe Flacco — won at least one game, making them one of eight teams in NFL history to have that many win a game in one season.

The run of quarterbacks started partly due to injuries, specifically Watson's rotator cuff sprain in October before his season-ending broken glenoid in Week 10. However, part of it was exacerbated by the inexperience in the room behind him after the late-August trade of Joshua Dobbs that left then-rookie Thompson-Robinson as his backup.

The Browns seemed to have learned from that issue as they entered into free agency this month. They signed former No. 1 overall pick Jameis Winston, who's started 80 games between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints, then followed that with a signing of former Baltimore Raven Tyler Huntley, who's started nine games in place of Lamar Jackson.

"Last year was a unique year," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Monday at the NFL owners meetings in Orlando, Fla. "So we hope not to be in that situation. But I think any time you can add good players you do it."

Watson only recently began throwing out in Los Angeles after his Nov. 21 surgery. Stefanski indicated Monday his quarterback was "on the right track" to be ready for the season.

Beyond that, the head coach wouldn't commit to anything firm for Watson by way of returning to any on-field activities, which won't start until May. There could be a stretch where Winston and/or Huntley are called upon to take first-unit reps during that time on a short-term basis.

"I look forward to allowing him to lean on me for anything that he needs and also encouraging him and providing him with different resources that he probably hasn't gotten from people that have been in the same room as him," Winston said during a March 20 Zoom call. "Whether that's film studies, film tendencies, whether that's cooperating with the receiver room, cooperating with the running backs, just serving him and this team the best way that I can. … So I'm so excited to work with this young man and allow him, help him be what he is capable of being, and that's being one of the best quarterbacks in this league."

The addition of Winston gives the Browns as experienced a backup as they've had in some time. Huntley gives them someone who was critical in helping the Ravens stay in the playoff hunt in both 2021, when they were knocked out on the final day, and in 2022, when they qualified as a wild card.

Those two additions could potentially almost completely re-shape how the Browns quarterback room looks going into the season. It most certainly will re-shape how it looks going into training camp.

What it means for the makeup of the position when the season starts, nobody can say at this moment. After all, season ago, the Browns went into training camp with a quarterback quartet of Watson, Dobbs, Thompson-Robinson and Kellen Mond.

They ended the season with Flacco, Driskell and Walker.

"I don’t know that re-shape the room was the goal," Stefanski said. "I think just every year you’re looking at what’s the best way to put that room together. We’re excited about Jameis. I think Jameis is a really, really talented young player. Just getting to know him over the course of the last couple weeks. He’s a great teammate, he’s excited about helping the team. Obviously we were able to bring in Tyler Huntley, another young player that we’ve competed against. I think it’s just a matter of adding some good young players to the room."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kevin Stefanski said Browns wanted to 'add good players' to QB group