It'd be worth it to pay for a consult with an attorney who deals in employment law in your state.

If it makes you feel any better, in my profession (veterinarian), it's standard to be required to sign a noncompete at hiring time in states that allow it. The concern is that you will take *your* (their) clients and go open a practice down the road, or take them with you to another clinic. As long as they're "reasonable," noncompetes in Arizona will hold up and there's no use going up against one. The scary thing is, it applies if you part ways for ANY reason, at either end's behest, you don't have to do anything wrong. Mine is 10 miles for 3 years, which would require a move to a whole different area. So we kept our old house on a "county island" in Phoenix as a rental when we moved "just in case" we ever had to move back with all our animals, most cities have a 4-5 dog limit.

So I see a severance package as a bonus that you might as well take because it could be nothing otherwise. But I'd pay for an attorney consult before signing anything.