The Chicago Bears have completed step one of the offseason after hiring the newest members of head coach Matt Eberflus' coaching staff.

While the majority of the team scouts and top executives are viewing top prospects at the Reese's Senior Bowl this weekend, free agency continues to creep closer and closer for the rest of the league.

The 2024 free agency period begins on March 13 and the Bears could be big spenders once again during the frenzy. According to OverTheCap, the Bears have $46.9 million in cap space and could free up more between now and March 13 by moving on from players with high cap hits in 2024.

With the majority of the coaching staff locked into place, the Bears could elect to reunite their new coaches with former players who played under their wing during the last few years. Here's a look the Bears new coaches and where they came from:

OC: Shane Waldron (former Seattle Seahawks' OC and Los Angeles Rams' PGC)
DC: Eric Washington (former Buffalo Bills' DL coach and Carolina Panthers' DC)
PSG: Thomas Brown (former Carolina Panthers' OC and Los Angeles Rams' AHC)
QBC: Kerry Joseph (former Seattle Seahawks assistant QB/WRs coach)
WRC: Chris Beatty (former Los Angeles' Chargers WRs coach)

With the new members of coaching staff laid out, let's see which pending free agents have ties with the Bears' new assistant coaches.

DE Brian Burns

Carolina Panthers' pending free agent Brian Burns spent his 2019 rookie season under Bears' new defensive coordinator Eric Washington. On Washington's unit, Burns recorded 7.5 sacks and 16 QB hits while starting in only five games.

Since Washington left Carolina, Burns has emerged as one of the top pass rushers in the NFC and headlines the list of free agent pass rushers. The Bears could look to spend big at the position after acquiring, and extending, Montez Sweat during the 2023 season. Burns would an outstanding addition on the opposite side of the front.

According to the AtoZ Sports' cap experts, Burns is projected to land a 4 year, $90 million contract if he hits free agency but has a "high" possibility of being franchise tagged by the Panthers. If he hits the market, the Bears should be on the hunt.

DE Leonard Floyd

Buffalo Bills' defensive end Leonard Floyd put together a career year in 2023 in his first year in Buffalo after coming over from the Los Angeles Rams. Floyd tied his career-high with 10.5 sacks and had 19 QB hits in his first year under Washington. In 2021, Floyd had 9.5 sacks and 18 QB hits while helping lead the Rams to a Super Bowl win.

Floyd would be a cheaper option to pursue in free agency than Burns with a more direct and recent tie to the Bears' new defensive coordinator at the position. According to Spotrac, Floyd's market value would be somewhere in the range of a 2 year, $16.2 million contract.

This would be quite the bargain for the Bears and still gives the defense an insanely productive and consistent number two pass rusher behind Sweat. Floyd would also be returning to the team who drafted him in 9th overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. Potentially more reunions than one if the front office decides to sign him in free agency.

WR Josh Reynolds

The Lions number two wide receiver could potentially be on the move in free agency and could reunite with Bears' offensive coordinator Shane Waldron who coached Reynolds with the Rams from 2018-2020 as the team's passing game coordinator.

Under Waldron's offense, Reynolds had a career-high in receptions (52) in 2020 and had five receiving touchdowns in 2018 (was a career-high until it was matched in 2023). Over the past two seasons with the Lions, Reynolds has totaled 78 receptions for 1,087 yards and eight receiving touchdowns.

He would be a prefect veteran number two behind wide receiver DJ Moore who has some familiarity working under Waldron. Having Reynolds as a consistent pass catcher could then allow the Bears to draft a more dynamic and explosive wide receiver to round out the position in 2024.

DE A.J. Epenesa

Another Bills' defensive lineman who could follow his former coach to Chicago in free agency is A.J. Epenesa. The 25-year-old former second round pick just finished his fourth and final year of his rookie contract and could be landing with a new team.

Under Washington's development, Epenesa consistently improved in each season with the Bills. He tied a career-high with 6.5 sacks in 2023 despite only making one start. The Bears can land Epenesa on an extremely friendly deal and offer him a full time starting role to continue growing as a pass rusher in the league. Spotrac expects his market value to be a 2 year, $11.3 million contract.

WR Jalen Guyton

Jalen Guyton isn’t the flashiest name among the free agent wide receivers but he could look to follow his wide receivers coach to the Chicago in 2024. Here's what the Bears' new wide receivers coach had to say about Guyton back in 2022.

"Jalen got better every week. I think we got better in using him, too. He's a long-strider with build-up speed who scares people deep. It took us a while to say, 'Okay, here's how we can accentuate his role.' Jalen's really fast and people back up when they play him so he had a lot of 20-yard catches that go unnoticed because he's running a hinge route at 14 but everyone's backed up so he runs for another five or six [yards] because they're playing off of him so much because of his speed. I think he's just tapped the surface on what he can become, too." – Chris Beatty

Guyton had back-to-back disappointing seasons after playing 11 combined games and totaling just 153 yards and one touchdown combined. However, as a potential number three/four option, his skillset as a deep threat could be beneficial on offense and is a role Chicago desperately needed from someone other than Moore last year.

TE Colby Parkinson

The Bears currently will be entering into the 2024 season with only two tight ends on the roster with Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis set to depart as free agents. The Bears could look to reunite a former Seahawks tight end with Waldron and Joseph through free agency in Colby Parkinson.

Parkinson has recorded 50 receptions, 569 yards and four touchdowns over the last two seasons while sharing snaps on the Seahawks' offense. With the Bears, he would play in a similar limited role with Cole Kmet continuing to be used as the team's primary tight end on offense. There's certainly a need and a role vacant on offense that could easily be filled with the former Seahawks tight end.

Bears offensive expectations under Shane Waldron

What will the unit look like?