The prediction markets have essentially decided Klint Kubiak will be the next head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.

There are still a few barriers in the real world, however.

Raiders officials met with Kubiak on Saturday in Seattle, where he is preparing to guide the Seattle Seahawks offense against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 8. He is also expected to meet with the Arizona Cardinals.

The Seahawks are scheduled to arrive in the Bay Area on Sunday to begin the week of festivities, and no further discussions can take place by rule until after the Super Bowl.

Kubiak and the Raiders (or Cardinals) can agree in principle on a deal before the game, but nothing can be signed or officially announced until after the game.

Betting on a team’s next head coach is not allowed in regulated markets like Nevada, but the American web-based prediction betting platform Kalshi currently lists Kubiak’s odds of taking the Raiders job at 84 percent. His odds of taking the Cardinals job sit at just 10 percent, which reflects a belief the Raiders are his preferred destination should he accept a job this cycle.

Perhaps the biggest competitor should the Raiders offer Kubiak the job would be the appeal of running it back with Seattle, a team that has much of its core back and plenty of cap space to make another run at the Super Bowl next season. That would set Kubiak up for his choice of any potential job openings a year from now.

His current players seem to hope that happens.

“Klint is the worst coach ever,” star offensive lineman Gray Zabel joked during the playoff run. “Don’t hire him.”

Zabel went on to list the positive traits that make him hopeful Kubiak decides to stay around. His response was similar to that of wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who prefaced his comments about Kubiak early in the playoffs by saying he doesn’t want to hype him up too much and make it more likely he leaves Seattle.

“Guys love him,” Kupp said. “You want to play for guys like Klint. Humility is one thing that I think is one of his special traits. He leans on guys. Obviously he’s a very smart ball coach and understands a lot of things about this game, but his humility to be able to talk to guys and see that if there’s something he’s asking somebody to do that maybe they can’t do for some reason or maybe there’s a better way to do it.”

Kupp said Kubiak’s strengths are being able to take in the thoughts and opinions of the entire group and then channel that information into best utilizing everyone’s strengths and incorporating them into his system.

“He’ll be great wherever he is,” Kupp said. “Hopefully it’s here, but you want everyone to be able to ascend and go do whatever they want to do. I just know he’ll be great no matter where he is.”

Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald shared similar thoughts Friday when he was asked about Kubiak’s strengths.

“The thing I appreciate most about Klint is he’s a team player,” Macdonald said. “It’s always what’s best for the team all the time and he takes a lot of pride in it being a team effort. He’s the first to say the rest of the staff does a great job and the players make it come to life. So, I think there’s a humility behind how he operates, creates an environment where you’re getting all those positive aspects for everybody involved.”

Kubiak may soon bring those traits to the Raiders team facility in Henderson. Nothing will be official until at least Feb. 9.

The Raiders and Cardinals have the final two head coach vacancies.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.

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