Penn State could end up paying recently fired coach James Franklin much less than his full buyout, which is in the neighborhood of $50 million, according to a report from Front Office Sports.The terms of Franklin’s 2021 contract extension, obtained by FOS, include a “duty to mitigate” clause which dictates that whatever salary he receives from a future position will offset what Penn State owes him.The clause reads: “Should Coach obtain such applicable employment prior to the date this Contract would otherwise have expired, the University’s obligation to make payments to Coach … will be offset by the total compensation earned by Coach from such applicable new position through the end of the otherwise unexpired term of this agreement.”Essentially, should Franklin take another job in the field, whatever salary the new job pays him, be it coaching or broadcasting, would be taken out of Penn State’s annual buyout number of $8 million each of the next six years through the end of the 2031 season.The duty to mitigate clause requires him to attempt to find a new job, stating, “Once terminated, Coach is obligated to diligently search for and make a good faith effort to obtain another position appropriate for his skill set and to provide the university upon request with evidence that he is seeking such employment.”