Anecdotally, I had a case where I managed to strike out the whole noncompete from the contract. And the management still came after me, because they "didn't rea

Anecdotally, I had a case where I managed to strike out the whole noncompete from the contract. And the management still came after me, because they "didn't read it" or "thought it's something else". They knew they had no standing but still went ahead to claim an implicit noncompete. So yes, in the end you are legally covered, but once someone demands a noncompete out of the blue after the compensation is negotiated, that's not an honest party and will probably get pissed off if you dispute it. Noncompetes cost money, they should be disclosed at appropriate time and people should be compensated for it.