Once Super Bowl LX is over, and his duties as the Seattle Seahawks' offensive coordinator are done for the season, Klint Kubiak is expected to be announced as the next head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
When a new head coach comes in, the coaching staff will likely be flush with people he has worked with before, and Kubiak should be no different. Going further, there will naturally be some players that he's worked with in the past that he would like to bring with him to the Raiders.
Las Vegas is set to be Kubiak's sixth team in as many seasons, so he has potential ties that extend beyond what will be his lone year as Seattle's offensive coordinator. Exploring those longer ago, but still fairly recent, ties could lead to players Kubiak wants as part of his offense.
Free agent with tie to Klint Kubiak should be an easy 'pass' for the Raiders
In his bold predictions for the 2026 NFL offseason, Seth Trachtman of Yardbarker has a player with a Kubiak tie coming to Las Vegas as a free agent.
Wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
"Samuel performed well in a disappointing season for Washington with 802 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns, but it remains to be seen if he will return," Trachtman wrote. "The Raiders are among the teams desperate for wideout help, as the team looks to support likely No. 1 overall draft choice Fernando Mendoza."
Before this season, Samuel, of course, spent the first six seasons of his career with the San Francisco 49ers. Kubiak was the passing game coordinator there in 2023, a season in which Samuel had 60 catches for 892 yards and a career-high seven receiving touchdowns.
It is unknown to what extent Kubiak had input in the 49ers' offense that season, but Samuel also had five rushing touchdowns and averaged 6.1 yards per carry in 2023. That was just three years ago, and surely, Kubiak hasn't forgotten about that.
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All things considered, Samuel did produce solidly during a disappointing season for the Commanders this year. But upon his looming exit from the 49ers last offseason, he acknowledged not being in the best physical shape the previous season.
While he appears to have rectified that, he's also now 30 years old, and he just averaged a career-low in yards per catch. Samuel can still occupy a productive place in an offense as a versatile weapon, but his best years are behind him, and he may not match the Raiders' timeline.
His current contract projection, two years, $26.6 million per Spotrac, also opens up plenty of potential suitors as he hits the open market. It is safe to assume that Samuel will favor signing with a team that is closer to contending than Las Vegas currently is.
Samuel has ties to coaching staffs all around the league, so he should land on his feet elsewhere and save the Raiders the investment. Las Vegas, theoretically, needs to add weapons around Fernando Mendoza. But even with the tie to Kubiak easily inviting the idea, better fits exist than Samuel.