News that the Saints plan to sit down with David Shaw may have felt like it came out of left field, but he has a few unexpected connections worth noting:

Brock Bowers set a new rookie receiving yards record for tight ends on Sunday, surpassing Mike Ditka’s mark of 1,076 set in 1961, during the Las Vegas Raiders’ matchup with the New Orleans Saints.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Brock Bowers has broken Mike Ditka’s 1961 record for yards receiving by a rookie tight end. Drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders 13th overall out of Georgia, Bowers eclipsed Ditka’s mark of 1,076 yards when he made a 13-yard catch late in the second quarter on Sunday against New Orleans.

Legendary Chicago Bears tight end and coach Mike Dikta had a 63-year run with a remarkable record, but it has fallen at the hands of Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers.

The Raiders tight end's seven receptions for 77 yards gives him a total of 108 receptions for 1,144 yards in 16 games this season, surpassing the mark for a rookie that Mike Ditka

Brock Bowers is rewriting the NFL record books Sunday. The Las Vegas Raiders tight end now has the most receiving yards for a tight end in his rookie season in NFL history, breaking Mike Ditka's 63-year old record for most receiving yards by a tight end in his rookie season in the second quarter of Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints .

Mike Ditka’s rookie tight end receiving yards record stood for 63 years. Today Raiders TE Brock Bowers broke it.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a guy in NFL history tougher than Mike Ditka, but Brock Bowers is making his case. On Sunday, Bowers claimed Ditka's 63-year-old NFL record for receiving yardage by a rookie tight end.

Sam LaPorta, the then-rookie TE for the Detroit Lions rounds out the top five of the TEs with the most receiving yards in a season. LaPorta stands fifth on this list after he managed 889 yards during his rookie year. After being drafted in the second round of the draft LaPorta managed an average of 10.3 while adding 52.3 yards per game (17 games).

Las Vegas Raiders standout Brock Bowers broke Mike Ditka's 63-year-old NFL record for receiving yards by a rookie tight end.

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers is officially in the record books. As Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, Bowers surpassed Chicago Bears

Las Vegas Raiders' superstar rookie tight end, Brock Bowers, has officially broken Mike Ditka's tight end rookie receiving yards record