Deion Sanders' buyout details: Here's how much it will cost Colorado to fire head coach
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By all accounts, Colorado coach Deion Sanders is entering 2026 in a much better position than 2025.
Sanders battled health issues, including bladder cancer, throughout the 2025 offseason, and he went into the year with an unsettled quarterback situation for the first time in his tenure with the Buffaloes. The results were predictable: a regression to 3-9, putting Colorado near the bottom of the Big 12.
With those health issues improved and the hope that Julian Lewis is ready to take the next step at quarterback, Sanders is facing a critical season to get Colorado back on track. If not, his job status could come into question.
Here's a look at Sanders' buyout and what it would cost Colorado to fire him in 2026.
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Deion Sanders contract details
After a 9-4 season in 2024, Sanders agreed to a five-year, $54 million contract extension that runs through 2029.
The deal gave Sanders a $10 million salary in 2025, followed by another $10 million in 2026, $11 million in both 2027 and 2028 and $12 million in 2029. Sanders will have three years and $34 million remaining on the deal after 2026.
The extension represented a massive increase from the five-year, $29.5 million deal Sanders originally signed at Colorado. The Buffaloes stumbled to a 4-8 season in Year 1 under Sanders, but the attention he brought to the program after a 1-11 season gave way to a breakthrough nine-win campaign in 2024 and a subsequent extension.
After a 3-9 season in 2025, following the departures of his son, Shedeur, and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter to the NFL, Sanders is under pressure to prove he can get the program back on track in Year 4.
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Deion Sanders buyout details
If Sanders is fired by Colorado, he would be owed 75 percent of his remaining base salary, according to The Denver Post. That would put Colorado on the hook for $25.5 million if Sanders is fired before the end of 2026.
The figure decreases over time, so the school would only owe Sanders $17.25 million if he's fired in 2027 rather than 2026, but it's still a sizable number at the moment because this is only the second year of Coach Prime's five-year deal.
Still, it's manageable compared to some of the biggest buyouts of all time, including Brian Kelly's $54 million, James Franklin's $48.6 million and even Mark Stoops' $37.6 million just last year.
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Deion Sanders coaching record
SeasonSchoolWLPct.2020Jackson State43.5712021Jackson State112.8462022Jackson State121.9232023Colorado48.3332024Colorado94.6922025Colorado39.250Career4327.614Sanders has coached at FCS Jackson State and in the Big 12 at Colorado, to mixed results.
The Hall of Fame cornerback went 23-3 over his final two seasons at Jackson State, but he has one winning season in three seasons at Colorado and is 16-21 overall, including 9-18 in Big 12 play.