4 Free Agent DL connected to Chicago Bears coaching staff

The Chicago Bears will have a new front office and coaching staff for the start of the 2022 free agency period. While Ryan Pace built up a strong defensive line during his tenure, it is starting to come apart with Akiem Hicks and Bilal Nichols as free agents.

Hicks has seemed content in knowing that he is moving on, while there are still plenty of questions surrounding Bilal Nichols and his contract. If the new regime is not as interested in Nichols as the fan base who has been with him for years, they may be looking to bring in a group of fresh faces.

The coaching staff may want to bring in some players who are bought into what this new group is selling. Who are some players with ties to the front office, or coaching staff?

4. Will Derrick Nnadi be reunited with a familiar face?

Derrick Nnadi does not necessarily have ties to the coaching staff, but the big man upstairs may have a say to bring him in that could outweigh anyone. Ryan Poles was with the Kansas City Chiefs when they drafted Nnadi and he watched the third-round pick blossom into a starter who is set to hit free agency.

Derrick Nnadi could be a replacement for Eddie Goldman for the second time in his career. The two went to Florida State, and Nnadi stepped in for Goldman when he went to the NFL. Many compared Nnadi to Goldman coming out of school, and he had a similar career to date.

Some fans will be turned off by the comparison, but Goldman was having a great career trajectory before the pandemic. Beyond that, Nnadi is the younger version and is just 25 years old as a free agent. If Nnadi and Poles got along, it would be a nice starter to get a younger version of Goldman with the same upside Goldman once had in 2018.