At some point in the not so distant future, the New England Patriots will be forced to play football games without Tom Brady at quarterback. That might seem hard to believe considering Brady just won another MVP award at the age of 40 and has shown no signs of slowing down as he obsesses over his diet and lifestyle, but the day is coming when Brady walks away from the game. 

Even Patriots owner Robert Kraft knows it. At the annual league meetings this week, Kraft acknowledged that the Patriots "obviously" have to consider pulling the trigger on a quarterback in the draft to prepare for life after Brady as well as a scenario that sees Brady go down with an injury.

"I'm going to put my fan hat on, and obviously at some point we have to,"Kraft said, via ESPN's Mike Reiss. "Not just that, but think what happened in the '08 season when in the first quarter against Kansas City, Tom [Brady] goes out. How many people would have said that Matt Cassel would have led us to an 11-5 season? I put my faith and confidence in Bill [Belichick]. He knows his responsibilities. Anything can happen, even if Tom comes in [and is in] tip-top shape.

"Part of why the networks pay us the funding they do, and the reason this is the best entertainment product in America, is you don't know -- one play can change a whole season. One play with one person. To do a good job managing an NFL franchise, we've always said understanding quality depth management, that's our business."

Kraft's comments shouldn't come as a surprise given the Patriots traded away both their two young backup quarterbacks in the past year. There's also the fact that they have a history of drafting quarterbacks even with Brady on their roster. As Reiss pointed out in his story, the Patriots have drafted Jacoby Brissett, Jimmy Garoppolo, Ryan Mallett, Zac Robinson, Kevin O'Connell, Matt Cassel, Kliff Kingsbury, and Rohan Davey since Brady became the starter. Garoppolo and Brissett certainly looked like wise selections when they filled in admirably during Brady's four-game suspension in 2016, but both got traded last year, with Brissett landing in Indianapolis and Garoppolo joining the 49ers.

And that leaves Brian Hoyer as the Patriots' backup. Hoyer's certainly not a bad option if Brady has to miss a series or two, but he's got no long-term starting future with the Patriots. What they need is another developmental quarterback who can sit behind both Brady and Hoyer in 2018. So, who could that be?

It almost certainly won't be Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen or Baker Mayfield, all of whom are likely top-10 picks. It probably won't be Lamar Jackson, who figures to be off the board by the time the Patriots are on the clock. It could, in theory, be Mason Rudolph, who figures to be taken somewhere in the back half of the first round, but that would likely require the Patriots to use the 31st-overall pick on him, which probably wouldn't be wise given just how many needs this Patriots team has after a mass exodus in free agency.

So, that leaves us with developmental prospects like Luke Falk, Kyle Lauletta, Logan Woodside, Mike White, Nick Stevens, and Riley Ferguson. You can check out CBS Sports draft writer Chris Trapasso's entire quarterback prospect rankings right here to get acquainted with all of the no-name quarterbacks who might just end up becoming the next Tom Brady ... or the next Ryan Mallett.

Then again, there's always a slight chance that the Patriots just decide to sign Johnny Manziel and groom him to be Brady's successor.