Tuesday, March 18, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
SUN WIRE REPORTS
The St. Louis Rams' newest free-agent pickup just couldn't say no to Dick Vermeil.
Michael Jones, an outside linebacker who led the Oakland Raiders in tackles the last two seasons, signed a four-year contract with the Rams on Monday. He said the Rams' new coach and general manager, 60, is "going a thousand miles an hour every time you see him."
"After meeting Coach Vermeil, you can't do anything but love the man," Jones said. "He comes straight at you with the truth and you're going to love him for what he does."
Jones was just as impressed with the rest of Vermeil's staff, which includes Mike White, the head coach in Oakland the last two years and now the Rams' assistant head coach.
"When I came in, Mike told me he would love to have me here," Jones said. "I kind of got the feeling he was whispering in the man's ears."
Jones, 27, has played six seasons with the Raiders, in Los Angeles and then in Oakland. The Rams also had considered Wayne Simmons of Green Bay and Lewis Bush of San Diego to replace Carlos Jenkins at left outside linebacker.
"We have the total package here," Vermeil said. "There's at least four or five more years of football left in this guy. Hopefully he'll end his career playing as a St. Louis Ram."
Jones, an unrestricted free agent, was a running back at Missouri and lives in suburban University City in the off-season.
"My wife's from here," Jones said. "All her family lives here. My family's in Kansas City, so it's just a hop, skip and a jump to get here for the games."
The Raiders signed Jones, who is 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds, as an undrafted free agent in 1991, then switched him to defense.
On Sunday, the Rams visited with one of the top linebackers in the draft, Dwayne Rudd of Alabama. Rudd toured Rams Park, met with Vermeil and had brunch with Vermeil and other Rams officials.
"It was basically socializing," said Rudd, who is expected to go in the top 10 picks. The Rams have the sixth pick in the draft.
* BOOMER TO BENGALS?: Boomer Esiason, who led the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl in 1989, could return as the backup to starting quarterback Jeff Blake. Esiason's agent told The Cincinnati Enquirer for a story published today that Esiason would accept a backup role with the Bengals, and club owner Mike Brown said the team will discuss that possibility. "There are a couple of situations, Cincinnati included, where he'd be willing to go in as the backup," agent Gerald Colton said. "Boomer looks back fondly on his time with the Bengal organization." Esiason, 35, spent his first nine NFL seasons with the Bengals (1984-92). He went to the New York Jets in 1993, and to the Arizona Cardinals in 1996. He was released by Arizona Monday.
* CLEVELAND CONUNDRUM: Look for the NFL to expand by just one team in 1999, leaving itself with an awkward 31-team setup for a couple of years. Why? Because the league is committed to putting a team in Cleveland that year and there are no other viable candidates. Los Angeles, the natural site for a new franchise, is still bogged down in political wrangling and has no stadium close to ready for an NFL team.
* TELLING IT LIKE IT IS: Al Davis always denies meddling with the Raiders' coaching. But when a reporter at the NFL meetings last week prefaced a question with the phrase: "As a businessman ... "Whoa!" Davis interjected. "I'm not a businessman. I'm a football coach."
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