You may have already heard about this, but Tom Brady is getting up there in age. Brady played last season at the age of 41, making him the fourth-oldest quarterback to ever play in an NFL game. Naturally, he will play next season at age 42, an age at which only one quarterback (Warren Moon) has ever started 10 games or more. 

Brady is obviously a modern marvel and is still playing at an extremely high level, but given how rare his combination of age and performance level are, the Patriots have to know they need to settle on a succession play eventually. Perhaps they’re getting that ready. 

According to a report from the Boston Globe, New England brought in two of the draft’s top five quarterback prospects for pre-draft visits last week. (Highlighted in bold below.) 

The Patriots had an intriguing week with their pre-draft visits. Monday, they brought Texas A&M tight end Jace Sternberger to Foxborough. Wednesday they hosted a pair of quarterbacks, West Virginia’s Will Grier and Duke’s Daniel Jones. Thursday, they brought in four potential targets for Tom Brady: Iowa tight end Noah Fant, Ole Miss receiver A.J. Brown, Baylor receiver Jalen Hurd, and South Carolina receiver Deebo Samuel.

Jones is considered a fringe first-round prospect in many scouting circles, while Grier is more of a Day 2 type of prospect who could go in the mid-rounds. The Patriots have taken quarterbacks in the second and third rounds to sit and learn behind Brady before — Jimmy Garoppolo was a second-round pick while Jacoby Brissett was taken in the third round. Might they do the same this year? They’re at least getting their homework done so that if they have the chance, they know everything they can about the passers who might be available to them.