Yank down the tattered shroud. One of the worst-kept secrets in Broncos history is no longer. The Broncos are finalizing details of a four-year contract with Gary Kubiak that will make him their 15th head coach in franchise history, according to an NFL source.

The going rate for NFL head coaches with experience is about $5 million per year. (Kubiak previously coached eight seasons with the Houston Texans.)

The Broncos are expected to introduce Kubiak on Tuesday at a news conference. The Denver Post first reported the agreement Sunday night, a deal that had been expected almost from the moment Broncos general manager John Elway mutually agreed to part ways with coach John Fox a week ago.

” I look forward to get to know him and start a new tradition with the Broncos,” Broncos defensive lineman Malik Jackson said.

Kubiak is expected to make Rick Dennison the Broncos’ new offensive coordinator. Vance Joseph is a strong candidate to become defensive coordinator. Dennison has previously worked with Kubiak in Denver, Houston and Baltimore. Joseph was Kubiak’s secondary coach for three years in Houston.

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As for the Broncos’ players, it’s not just quarterback Peyton Manning who is wondering how he fits in with Kubiak’s West Coast, stretch-running, play-action, bootleg passing system.

The Broncos’ players are wondering what this coaching change means to them.

“I’ll play for anybody, anywhere,” running back C.J. Anderson said. “I just want to win.”

For the players, it means proving themselves all over again.

“That’s the NFL, period,” Jackson said.

The Broncos began their head coaching search with intentions of bringing in several candidates with a variety of styles. But once it became clear Kubiak was willing to become a head coach again, two candidates backed out of interviews and the Broncos declined to waste anybody else’s time.

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The Broncos wanted Kubiak so badly they flew to him. Elway and chief executive officer Joe Ellis led a Broncos contingent that boarded owner Pat Bowlen’s private plane at Centennial Airport and took off at 10:14 a.m. Sunday. They arrived in Sugar Land (Texas) Regional Airport in Texas and met Kubiak at a Houston hotel.

The interview lasted about five hours before the party celebrated their agreement with dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse. There are plans for Kubiak to be accompanied by his wife, Rhonda, at the news conference. Their youngest son, Klein Kubiak, might even drop by. He is working as an intern in the Broncos’ personnel department.

Elway and Kubiak have been friends for nearly 32 years, as they were rookie Bronco quarterbacks together in 1983. Still, the Broncos figured to use their interview Sunday to ask Kubiak about his health. Last year, while coaching for the Houston Texans, Kubiak collapsed on the field at halftime from what was deemed a mini-stroke. He returned a week later and hasn’t missed any more time. After he was fired by the Texans near the end of last season, Kubiak, 53, caught on this season as the Ravens’ offensive coordinator and had a terrific coaching comeback.

The Ravens’ offense this season improved to No. 8 in rushing after finishing 30th last season. And the sacks on quarterback Joe Flacco dropped from 48 in 2013 to just 19 this season.

After reaching accord with Kubiak, the Broncos contingent flew back from Houston’s Hobby Airport to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport late Sunday night. According to an NFL source, Elway and Ellis did not bring Kubiak back with them.

The plan is for Kubiak to get his affairs in order at his Houston-area home, then fly with his wife to Denver for the news conference.

Every sign for the past week pointed toward the Broncos hiring Kubiak. First, Kubiak agreed to interview with the Broncos a few days after he sent out a press release that said he would stay with the Ravens in 2015, bypassing the head coaching interview opportunities he had with the Chicago Bears and New York Jets.

Second, the Broncos had two head coaching candidates, Teryl Austin and Doug Marrone, back out of their scheduled interviews at Dove Valley because they, too, figured the job was already set up for Kubiak.

Third, Kubiak wasn’t treated like the other two candidates the Broncos did interview. Denver offensive coordinator Adam Gase and Joseph, the Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive backs coach, were interviewed for the head coaching job at Dove Valley last week. The Broncos flew to Kubiak for his interview.

Even before Kubiak gets settled back in Denver, he will work to put together a new coaching staff. Besides Dennison and Joseph, there is a chance Kubiak will want Ravens tight end coach Brian Pariani to fill a larger coaching role in Denver.

Among those from Fox’s staff, quarterback coach Greg Knapp — whose background is steeped in the zone-blocking, rolling pocket passing system Kubiak uses — and running backs coach Eric Studesville may have the best chance to be retained.

Mike Klis: mklis@denverpost.com or twitter.com/mikeklis