Per multiple reports, the Las Vegas Raiders are set to hire Klint Kubiak as their head coach after the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator finishes his season in Sunday's Super Bowl against the New England Patriots in Santa Clara, California.
Kubiak's strengths with quarterbacks should be an asset for a Raiders organization that could make Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Kubiak's offensive helped quarterback Sam Darnold lead the Seahawks to the Super Bowl during their first season in Seattle.
The soon-to-be head coach appears to have another key leadership skill: building relationships.
Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Kubiak is expected to take multiple Seahawks assistants with him to the Raiders following Sunday's Super Bowl.
“Well, I think the fact that he's leaving means that it's probably not going to be the only hit to Seattle's coaching staff," Schefter said on his podcast on Tuesday. "The chances are he'll be taking some of his trusted assistants with him to Las Vegas.
"And I don't know how many or who yet, but I will say there'll be minimum one, two, three coaches that go with him to Las Vegas."
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Kubiak could be taking more than his trusted offensive assistants with him to Las Vegas, and that could be a problem for Seattle.
Per Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde could join Kubiak with the Raiders.
"If I were a Raider Nation, I would get familiarized with the guy by the name of Aden Durde," Bonsignore said on the "The Morning Tailgate" podcast on Monday. "He’s the Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator. But don’t be surprised if he’s a prominent figure in all this."
Durde joined Seattle in 2024 when Mike Macdonald first took over as Seattle's head coach. However, Macdonald calls plays for the defense, meaning the Seahawks could not block Durde from taking the Raiders defensive coordinator job because it's not a lateral move.
If Durde leaves, Macdonald will have to replace two coordinators this offseason, and late in the league's hiring cycle.
The Raiders and Kubiak still have to finalize the deal.
Schefter thinks Kubiak's agent, Rick Smith of Priority Sports, could get his client a deal similar to that of Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson, who is reportedly making $13 million per year.
“Well, this deal is going to get done after the Super Bowl," Schefter said. "They'll have to negotiate it and finalize it and agree to terms. But look, this is not hard to get done.
This is a simple deal to do.
"And all you really have to wind up doing is look at what some of these other head coaches got, all the rookie head coaches. And last year, Klint Kubiak's agent represented Ben Johnson when he got a deal done for Chicago."
Super Bowl celebration or not, Macdonald will have some work to do next week to fill out his staff for the 2026 campaign.