New information has emerged about James Franklin’s buyout from Penn State that reportedly will pay him $49 million.

Front Office Sports, which specializes in covering the business end of sports and has more than 225,000 followers on X (@FOS) obtained a copy of his 2021 of Franklin’s contract extension.

The contract stipulates that in the event he is fired, as was the case Sunday, Franklin is obligated to search for a new job, and if he finds one that pays less than the $8 million he is owed annually through 2031, Penn State only needs to make up the difference.

“If Franklin gets a new job soon, that number could significantly diminish,” FOS reporter Amanda Christovich wrote. “In fact, Penn State may not owe him anything at all.”

Christovich reported the language in the contract is termed “duty to mitigate,” which states: “Once terminated, Coach is obligated to diligently search for and make a good faith effort to obtain another position appropriate for his skill set (i.e., coaching, scouting and broadcasting only) and to provide the university upon request with evidence that he is seeking such employment.”

There are already high-profile job openings at schools that fired their coaches during the season, such as Arkansas, Virginia Tech, UCLA and Oklahoma State with others expected after the season.

Many well-known coaches who are let go or retire also land jobs in television.

PSU Athletic Director on Monday Patrick Kraft declined to comment on specifics of the buyout, other than to say: “This is an athletics issue, this is not the institution’s issue. We in athletics are covering all the costs. As it gets to structural, how it’s paid, I’m not going to get into the details of that and the financials, either.”

There has also been internet speculation that Adidas, which recently signed Penn State to a 10-year lucrative deal believed to be worth about $30 million annually, had a hand in Franklin’s dismissal.

Penn State issued a statement to FOS on Monday, saying, “This decision was made solely by the Penn State administration. Adidas is not helping to pay the buyout for Coach Franklin.”

Though Franklin’s contract was extended in 2021 for 10 years, Blue-White Illustrated’s Nate Bauer reported in a podcast on Monday that Franklin wanted another extension after leading the Nittany Lions to the College Football Playoff semifinals last season.

“He felt he was worthy of a contract extension and renegotiation this summer,” Bauer told moderator Thomas Frank Carr. “That was a thing Penn State had to deal with – understanding there were multiple years left on the extension.”

Franklin’s career record was 104-45 in 12 seasons.

Penn State (3-3) started the season ranked No. 2 by the Associated Press, but has lost three straight games heading into Saturday’s visit to Iowa (7 p.m., Peacock).