At the NFL Draft, General Manager Sonny Weaver has the opportunity to rebuild his team when he trades for the number one pick. He must decide what he's willing to sacrifice on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with NFL dreams.
It's draft day in the NFL, and as General Manager of the Cleveland Browns, Sonny is forced to come up with a big move. After trading for the number one pick, Sonny has to choose between a lower-ranked linebacker with a questionable past, or a celebrated quarterback with a questionable future. All the while, Sonny is walking in the footsteps of his father, and personal complications force their way to the surface.—Anne Campbell
Sonny Weaver, Jr., the General Manager of the Cleaveland Browns, has a lot to think about on draft day. The team's owner Anthony is concerned with the teams' commercial viability. The head coach has raised the new signings he wants. The players attached to the Browns have their thoughts on the draft. Sonny's role is under the microscope after he fired his father, Sonny Weaver, Sr., from the position of head coach, the previous season. Now with things settling into his hands, will Sonny go for the "splash" signing Bo Callahan as wanted by Anthony, will he relent to the needs of the head coach, or does he have his own plans?—Thejus Joseph Jose
With 13 hours until the beginning of the NFL draft, Sonny is informed by the team's owner (Frank Langella) that if Sonny doesn't make a splash and generate ticket sales, he's going to be fired. That prompts the GM to take a trade offer from another team that gives him the first pick in the draft, in exchange for three future first-round picks. The move outrages the Browns' head coach, and forces all of the team's scouts to dig up what they can find about the pick everyone, including the owner, expects them to make -- a highly touted QB from Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Weaver is drawn to a talented linebacker who has family issues to deal with and is known for having a hot temper..
Sonny Weaver Jr. is the general manager of the Cleveland Browns and today is Draft Day and such a day is set on a grand stage. The teams owner seems to be at wits end with the teams commercial-ability and lack of winning lately and appears to be putting an immense amount of scrutiny on Sonny's every move. He needs to make a HUGE splash not only for the betterment of his franchise but for the security of his position. Sonny is left with a crucial decision, go for the gusto and draft the big name QB whose playing ability is celebrated everywhere he's been but has a high chance to bust or go back to the basics and draft the lower ranked linebacker with a muddled past but a pure love for the game that could be the framework of a well rounded powerhouse. To leave his current QB as an afterthought or to build off of the surprisingly solid culture the team already possesses. Sonny has always been backed into a corner of which the successful reputation his father garnered before him but now the choice is his and solely his despite the detesting nature of the owner and loud polarizing coach. Moves will be made and relationships tested to the max on Draft Day!
On the day of the fictionalized 2014 NFL Draft, the consensus number one pick (as stated by real-life analyst Jon Gruden) is a University of Wisconsin quarterback: Bo Callahan, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. Cleveland Browns general manager Sonny Weaver Jr. (Kevin Costner), is holding the seventh overall pick. His father, Sonny Weaver Sr., coached the Browns, was fired by his son, and died a week before the draft. Devastated, Weaver Jr. is given the opportunity to trade for the first overall draft pick, held by a fictionalized version of the Seattle Seahawks (with general manager Tom Michaels and his boss/owner Walt). Weaver recently learned that his girlfriend Ali Parker (Jennifer Garner) is pregnant with his child. Parker also works for the Browns, as a lawyer concerned with ensuring the integrity of the Browns' salary cap, and their relationship is intended to be secret from the rest of the Browns staff.
Michaels offers the number-one pick to Weaver, but he declines. However, he later accepts (& is arm twisted by Michaels into getting Sunny to trade his next 3 yrs first round picks) after being told to "make a splash" by Browns owner Anthony Molina (Frank Langella). Sunny wants to pick Vonte Mack for Browns defense, but Molina wants Sunny to risk everything & go after Bo Callahan (who is currently the bookies favorite for top pick) or Ray Jennings (Favorite of Browns coach Penn). The Browns thus trade their three first-round draft picks over the next three years to the Seahawks in exchange for the top pick, a deal Michaels believes is good. Anthony is mighty pleased with Sunny & even heads to NY for the draft where he intends to hand over the Browns jersey to Callahan personally. However, this move angers many Seahawks fans who wanted Callahan to play for their team. They take to social media to express their displeasure with Michaels and publicly demands Walt to fire him for it.
The move also angers Browns head coach Penn (Denis Leary), who had wanted to draft running back Ray Jennings for his system offense, and the current quarterback, Brian Drew, who had led the team to a 5-1 start the previous year before being injured. The news leaks after it is tweeted by Vontae Mack, a defensive player for Ohio State who wants to play for the Browns and who advises Weaver to re-watch the tape of him sacking Callahan four times in one game to see what Callahan does next. Weaver also hears a proposed trade from the Buffalo Bills (who offer Sunny their star quarter back in addition to their next 2 yrs first round picks. Sunny finds that Penn made the call to Buffalo Bills to convince them to offer this deal to Sunny), as well as inquiry from the Kansas City Chiefs about the availability of Drew. Drew is angry that Sunny is going to pick Bo Callahan, which means that his career at Browns is over.
Thru some discrete sleuthing, Sunny figures out that none of Callahan's teammates attended his 21st BDay party in his last year at college. When Sunny calls Callahan's coach at Uni, the coach gets angry & his theory that the incident involved cops taking down names of all attendees at a public party & decided not to take down names of the players of a college varsity team in order to not ruin their careers.
Sunny confesses to Parker that he has been with the Browns for just 2 yrs, & never had the chance to put his own team together. The first year was his dad's team & the next year was Molina's. This was supposed to be his year & he is angry with the demands that everyone has of him that is not allowing his to do his job. He also tells Parker that he fired his dad from his coaching job, because the stress of coaching was going to kill him & when the doctors gave Sunny the warnings, he had no choice but to go ahead and fire his own father.
Parker backs Sunny & gives him the courage to refuse the offer from Buffalo. Sunny then watches the video of Callahan's game with Vonte Mack. They see Vonte running circles around Callahan & Callahan losing his composure completely. Callahan manages to win the game with the last play, but Vonte is not on the field for that play. Further investigating reveals that Vonte was disqualified for handing the same ball to a girl during the game. The girl was actually Vonte's sister who died 6 months ago.
Coming into the draft, the only downside to Callahan appears to be two incidents which reflect on his honesty-a 21st birthday party disturbance/robbery ostensibly attended by none of his Wisconsin teammates (despite Callahan's captaincy), and Callahan allegedly lying to the Washington Redskins about reading a playbook they sent him. Sunny calls Callahan & asks him about why his teammates did not attend his BDay party & Callahan lies by saying that he doesn't remember anything from that night. When the Browns are "on the clock" with the first overall pick, Weaver sends in the choice of Mack without the rest of the head office's knowledge. While Drew appears to be relieved of the choice for Mack, Molina furiously leaves the draft in New York City to fly back to Cleveland to confront Sonny. Callahan has what appears to be an anxiety attack and leaves by the back door, having to be coaxed back to the draft by his agent Chris Crawford.
Callahan steadily drops in the draft and is still available for the sixth pick, held by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Weaver talks the "rookie" GM of the Jaguars into giving him the sixth overall pick in exchange for the next three years of the Browns' second-round draft picks. Molina comes in furious with Weaver and confronts him for passing Callahan for Mack. He tells his boss that he had his reasons for picking Mack and convinces Molina to let him do his job. Weaver then calls Michaels (who now has the 7th overall pick), who badly wants Callahan, and secures all three first-round draft picks back for the sixth pick, along with Seattle's punt returner David Putney. Seattle takes Callahan, allowing Weaver to also select Ray Jennings and thus make coach Penn happy.
The draft is portrayed as a success for the Browns, while Opening Day 2014 is shown with a visibly pregnant Ali still with Weaver. The team prepares for the game with all Browns players (Mack, Jennings, Drew, and Putney) seemingly in high spirits and ready for the season to begin.
