With the Seahawks’ season finally ending, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak can embark on his new beginning.
Kubiak is widely expected to become the Raiders’ next head coach.
As we learned eight years ago, when Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was expected to become the Colts’ head coach and didn’t, nothing is done until it’s done. This time around, there’s no reason to think Kubiak to the Raiders won’t get done.
And there will be plenty of work to do. Great players make great coaches. The Raiders have many needs. And it’ll be for Kubiak, G.M. John Spytek, and minority owner Tom Brady to find them.
The key will be the quarterback, as it is for every team. When Kubiak arrived in Seattle a year ago, he inherited Geno Smith. And Kubiak called Smith a “huge draw.”
But Smith, whose 2025 cap number necessitated an extension, wanted more than the Seahawks were willing to pay. So the Seahawks traded him to the Raiders and signed Sam Darnold. (The Raiders could have had Darnold without giving up a third-round draft pick, but they didn’t want him.)
So will it be Geno — who has a fully-guaranteed salary of $26.5 million in 2026 — for the Raiders? Or will the Raiders use the first overall pick on quarterback Fernando Mendoza?
They could do both, keeping Geno as the starter for this year while giving Mendoza time to watch and learn the NFL ropes.
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