New England Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady continues to prove to be an ageless wonder after coming off an MVP season at the age of 40. However, there remains the underlying question of how much longer he can maintain this elite level of performance at this stage of his career.

Brady clearly has no plans to retire anytime soon, but this has left the franchise in the position of having to put in place a successor plan for the future Hall of Famer. According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, Patriots owner Robert Kraft voiced confidence in the front office putting in place the next quarterback through the draft process, but they still won't force it.

“It evolves, and it has to be natural,” Kraft said of finding Brady’s successor. “I think one thing that (director of player personnel) Nick (Caserio) and Bill are very good at is understanding value in the marketplace. When that happens, they’ll strike. We can’t always program it. It’s simple to see in the draft. But just like San Francisco did what they did, who could have predicted that?”

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The Patriots appear to be hedging toward finding that next quarterback in this year's draft, now possessing two first round picks at the 23rd and 31st overall selections. They have an opportunity to potentially snag one at either of those selections, or potentially package them to move up in the draft order.

There are a plethora of scenarios that could play out over the next few weeks, but the overriding notion at this point is that New England is set on finding that next quarterback in this year's draft. There is no rush at this point, but given that team moved on from both Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett last season, they need a young quarterback to eventually take over the reins after Brady.

This, combined with Kraft's comments, present the notion that this could very well come in this year's draft later this month where they possess four picks in the first two rounds. It has become something to certainly to keep an eye in the coming weeks.