What Lessons Can Draft Day Teach Us About Successful Negotiations?

Does 2014’s Draft Day - starring Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner - have the single greatest negotiation scene of all time? I’ll leave that judgement to history, but I will say that watching Costner’s Sonny Weaver Jr. parlay one first round draft pick into three key new players in the film’s finale is as electrifying as it is improbable, and it contains three useful lessons on negotiation for lawyers and lay people alike.

To set the scene: it is Draft Day - the day where NFL teams get to plan out their season. Next to the Super Bowl, it is the biggest football day of the year. This year, the Cleveland Browns have the 7th overall pick in the draft, putting them in position to draft Sonny’s preferred choice, linebacker Vontae Mack (the late great Chadwick Boseman), a player Sonny thinks is special and who “could transform our defense, even as a rookie.”

Out of the blue, Seattle Seahawks GM Tom Michaels (Patrick St. Esprit) calls Sonny and offers to trade Seattle’s number 1 pick for Cleveland’s 7th. This means that instead of drafting Vontae Mack, Cleveland will be able to draft rookie quarterback Bo Callahan (Josh Pence), the most exciting and game-changing player since Andrew Luck. But in exchange for a player of Bo’s caliber, Seattle wants the next three years of Cleveland’s first round draft picks. This is a huge ask: one potentially great player for three year’s worth of opportunities? As several characters in the film say “that’s our [team’s] future!”

At first, Sonny balks, but eventually takes the deal. Why? Because the teams owner, Anthony Molina (Frank Langella) commands Sonny to “make a splash.” Failure to do so may cost Sonny his job.

It’s a shitty place to be. And because Sonny’s livelihood is on the block, he panics. Tom Michaels even admits it when Sonny accepts the offer.

Sonny: You think I'm gonna give you my next three number one picks? 

Michaels: You're panicking, Sonny, and I intend to take advantage of that. 

Panic is a running theme throughout the movie, and it’s here we have our first lesson:

1. DON’T PANIC

This is a good life lesson too, but it’s particularly important in a negotiation because when you’re panicking, you’re not thinking clearly or assessing the facts on their merits. When you panic, you rush. When you rush, you make mistakes. When you make mistakes, you give up more than you might otherwise - like three years of first round draft picks. But not only does panic cloud your judgment, it also telegraphs your motives, your thought process, and even your strategy. That’s how you lose control of your argument. While I always counsel clients to negotiate in good faith, there’s a difference between good faith and showing your entire hand, which Sonny does pretty readily throughout.

Even as he’s panicking, Sonny knows he’s making bad decisions.* Later on, while speaking with Ali (Garner), the team’s salary cap expert and his secret girlfriend, he ruminates on the value of keeping your cool.

Sonny: Remember the '89 Super Bowl? 49ers-Bengals.

Ali: Niners down by three, 93-yard winning drive, Taylor beats the weak safety for a 10-yard TD. 

Sonny: Yeah, but before the drive. Joe Montana's in the huddle. Right? And unbelievably, somehow spots the actor John Candy in the stands. He points at him and asks the guys in the huddle, "Hey, isn't that John Candy?" They couldn't believe the balls on him. To be that calm, in that game, at that moment. His guys instantly relax, they march...

Ali: 93 yards.

Sonny: 93 yards. Montana throws a little slant to Taylor. 49ers win the Super Bowl.

Ali: Great game.

Sonny: It was a great game. No one can stop a ticking clock. But the great ones, the great ones always find a way to slow it down.

Unless lives are on the line, no negotiation is so urgent it has to be completed now (and yes, I get that the point of the urgency in the movie is that a literal clock is running). Even still, take your time. Assess the facts. Make choices based on the facts you know, not emotion. Don’t rush through the process, let things happen on their own time. In other words, slow it down. 

So how does Sonny slow it down? He rejects Bo, whom he’s had reservations about the whole movie, and takes Vontae at number one. 

Molina rages. Coach Penn (Denis Leary) threatens to quit. Sonny’s team screams at him and the rest of Cleveland calls for his head on a pike. But then something happens. None of the other teams takes Bo. “Why did Cleveland pass on possibly the greatest QB prospect in NFL history?” they all think. “What does Sonny Weaver know that no one else does?” The entire draft is thrown into chaos as Bo starts plummeting, St. Louis, Miami, and Denver all passing on him. This creates an opening for Sonny who is finally thinking straight for the first time all day.

He calls the Jackonsville Jaguars’ rookie GM Jeff Carson (Pat Healy) who is slated to pick sixth and makes the following offer, while also conveniently giving us our second lesson:

2. Both Sides Should Get Something

Carson: What's wrong with Callahan? 

Sonny: Can I be frank with you? I think he's a bust. 

Carson: What? How? Why?

Sonny: I don't know. Gut feeling. To be honest, Jeff, it's a character thing for me. But, look, I have other needs. So, if you wanna make a trade for six, I can make that happen right now. 

Carson: You want six? Who are you takin'?

Sonny: I can't tell you that, Jeff. The question is, do you want to make a trade? Because if you're not sold on Callahan, you can still come out of here with a handful of draft picks, you look like a seasoned pro, and everybody wonders what you're up to next year.

Carson: I don't know. I don't know, Sonny. 

Sonny: Look, Jeff, every year someone comes out of this looking like a donkey. Can you hear me?

Carson: Yeah. 

Sonny: Good. Because tomorrow I got a feeling it could be you if you don't make this deal. Look, everyone else has a reason to pass on Bo Callahan. You don't. Give me six. Give me six and I'll give you our second-round pick this year and our second-rounder next year.

Carson: Oh! That sounds awesome, Sonny. What am I, a jerk?

Sonny: I’m just spit-balling here, Jeff. 

Carson: Two number twos for the sixth overall? I'm not an idiot. 

Sonny: I’d give you ones, but I already dealt 'em.

Carson: Well, you're gonna have to do better than that. Jesus, the clock.

Sonny: I know. Denver hasn't picked yet, but they will any second, all right?

Carson: Shit, Sonny, I need more. Tell me. What is the very best that you can do?

Sonny: Final offer. Take our number two pick this year, next year, and the next year after that. That's three years of number two picks. 

Carson: Four. I want your next four number twos.

Sonny: Nah, Jeff, I'm not gonna do that. Stay with me on planet Earth here, all right? You know what I just offered you is fair.

Carson: So, three years of second-rounders? 

Sonny: That's right. For your pick right now. And you and your guys can regroup, figure yourselves out and relax. This is a good deal, Jeff. This is a good deal for both of us. 

Carson: Deal.

There are a lot of people out there (including our former president) who believe that deal-making is zero sum. But that is a frankly unsustainable way to make deals. Eventually, no one will do business with you if you’re the only person coming out ahead. You always have to give up something in a negotiation, but a good deal is one where both parties walk away feeling like they gained, rather than lost.** Sonny reminds Carson that not only does Cleveland stand to gain from this trade, but so does Jacksonville. What does Jacksonville stand to gain? Not just three years of draft picks, not just time for the Jaguars to figure out a game plan; what clinches the deal is that Sonny offers Carson, a first-year GM, the opportunity to look like a smart, seasoned veteran.

Carson feels like HE got something out of the trade. And while Sonny is using Carson’s youth and inexperience to strategically get what he wants, I think it’s noteworthy that he offers Carson a very fair deal. 

So now with Cleveland picking again at the sixth spot, Sonny calls Seattle’s Tom Michaels to offer him a new deal, giving us a glimpse at our third and final lesson:

3. Be Willing To Walk Away

Sonny: I’m gonna pick Bo, Tom. Unless you want him more. And if so, let's make a deal.  Everyone thinks there's something wrong with the kid, but you don't, all right? You've done your due diligence. You're about to pull off the move of the century. But you need my pick to do it. So make me an offer.

Michaels: You've gone rogue. You've gone renegade.

Sonny: Yeah, that's right. That's exactly right. I could have gotten Vontae at seven, but instead I trade up with you just so I could get him at one. Jesus Christ. You were right about me, Tom. I am a crazy man. So, come on, take advantage of it. What are you waitin' for? Make me a deal, Tom, at six, and you get your boy wonder.

Michaels: What do you want? 

Sonny: I want my number ones back. All of 'em.

Michaels: That's crazy. Why would I give them back?

Sonny: Because, at the end of the day, no one's the wiser, Tom. You haven't lost anything and you get the quarterback messiah you've always wanted for $7 million less.

Michaels: Nah. No, I can't do it. I'd look like an idiot, like I panicked. You take him. You obviously don't want to. I'll stick with my draft picks. 

Sonny: Yeah, but you want him, Tom, don't you? Seahawks fans want a hero and you denied 'em.

Michaels: - Not that bad.

Sonny: - Don't lie to me. I checked all the Seahawk fan blogs and chat rooms. They're all calling for your head. Ever since you traded away Callahan, the barbarians are at the gate.

Michaels: I don't care about that.

Sonny: Yeah, you do. You and I both know it. I have the golden ticket now, Tom, and if I give it to you, you get to save Seahawk football in Seattle.

Michaels: Um... How 'bout I give you number two picks?

Sonny: No. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. No, I want my picks back. All of them. I want all three years of this team's future back.

Michaels: That's not fair! 

Sonny: Well, you wanna cry about it, Tom, or you wanna make a little magic before the clock runs out on both of us?

Once again, Sonny reminds a negotiating partner what he stands to gain while offering him a fair deal. 

But what’s critical here isn’t just that Sonny is putting the first two lessons into practice, it’s that he has leverage over Michaels. And that leverage is that he is willing to just take Bo at 6th unless Michaels gives him a better offer; he is willing to walk away from the deal if he doesn’t get what he wants. 

In the world of negotiation, there is no greater leverage than knowing your worth and being willing to walk away from a deal that doesn’t serve your needs. It’s ultimately why Michaels accepts the deal. He knows Sonny walking away from the deal makes things harder for him in the long run. Whenever I’m counseling clients in a negotiation, I always ask them “what’s the point at which the deal no longer makes sense for you?” Knowing that is key to conducting a good negotiation because it puts the other side on notice of what is and isn’t an acceptable compromise. Yes, sometimes that means the deal is dead. And sometimes that’s a bummer. But in my experience, agreeing to a deal you don’t like and should’ve walked away from is a bigger bummer. 

These lessons aren’t the only ones you need to know going into a negotiation, but equipping yourself with them will go a long way towards getting a desirable outcome. And if you can figure out how to apply those lessons while also doing it with Costner’s innate charm, then there’s probably no deal you can’t close desirably. Unless you panic.

* There’s a running gag in Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies where Tom Hanks’ character keeps asking Mark Rylance’s character why he’s not panicking, to which Rylance would repeatedly reply, “would it help?” Panicking never helps.

** To be clear, I’m not saying you will get everything you want. In most negotiations, you’re giving up something to get something. A good deal is where that tradeoff feels like a benefit.