From Outkick:
"Edwards has agreed to take only 50% of the buyout money owed to him, according to The State Press. That means ASU will pay him roughly $4.4 million through 2024.”
“Why did Herm Edwards leave millions of dollars on the table? It’s not clear, and there’s no question it’s a strange move…Buyout money is pretty much always guaranteed…One possible explanation is ASU held possible violations over his head as leverage to void any guaranteed money.”
https://twitter.com/Outkick/status/1583192077831118851
The guy who wrote that is a bit of a paste eater mediot, but that topic is actually sort of interesting.
I can't find a PDF of his contract, but the factors usually involve:
-Is there contract mitigation? - This is where your new salary comes off your buyout. So if ESPN pays him within $2.2 million of what he would've made, he comes out ahead
-Is there a duty to look for similar work? - Sometimes mitigation comes with stipulations of looking for a new job and taking one if offered. He doesn't seem to want to be a DC somewhere.
-The tax factor - On a buyout, you pay the full tax burden in Year 1. So if you don't have some reserves, that bill can be hefty for two years of capped income
-The fact that ASU could threaten litigation for the for cause thing, but not want to pay, and just say, "It's a pain for us and a pain for you, let's split the difference."
It's also laughable the ASU AD gave him a 100 percent buyout. No one gets that.