Auburn football copied NBA's collective bargaining agreement provision with Hugh Freeze contract buyout details

Auburn football's brain trust took an ode from an even bigger cash cow, the NBA -- but, more specifically the owners' negotiated Stretch Provision into the Association's collective bargaining agreement -- when negotiating Hugh Freeze's contract buyout.

They safeguard themselves against a lump sum payment by installing a provision that'd spread the accounts payable out over a number of years.

"While Freeze melts on the Plains, his buyout after this season would total $20.3 million. If you think that safeguards Freeze, you don’t know Auburn," USA Today's Blake Toppmeyer explained. "Auburn isn’t known for a level-headed handling of coaches, but it shrewdly structured Freeze’s buyout. How so? Like this: If Auburn fires Freeze, it could spread out its financial obligations to him in monthly payments throughout the remainder of his contract, which runs through the 2028 season.

"In other words, don’t think of the cost of firing Freeze as one giant flush of cash."

The national media is counting Freeze out already. The local media is claiming that he's in the clear for years to come, though.

Local media claims Hugh Freeze is safe from Auburn football firing for years

247Sports' Phillip Marshall claimed Freeze has until 2026. A 4-8 record, which Auburn looks to be on pace for, isn't going to get him fired this year, and possibly the next two years after that if AU's brain trust is committed to a long-term rebuild; this, at least, according to 247Sports' Nathan King.

The national media has never been a fan of Freeze. Besides one notable two-letter local site, the local media has been far friendlier to the Tigers' head coach.

They seem to have markedly different ideas of how this can go. Stay tuned. It's college football. It's the Plains. This whole thing could go in a number of directions.