A bit more context,
@Rollie Forbes
AEW's tiered deals are basically guaranteed pay, but less than what a full-timer makes of course. It also comes with per-appearance payments, and they get paid a premium per-appearance fee relative to what unsigned talent get.
The talent are free to take whatever non-AEW bookings they want without having to get it pre-approved by AEW, but AEW is supposed to take priority over everything else.
The talent are free to negotiate contract offers with other companies, but AEW gets the right to match any other contract offers the talent receives. Similar to how an NBA restricted free agency works.
AEW also has the rights to promote them to full-time.
So it's kind of a hybrid between an NBA two-way player and restricted free agent type deal.