[WillPostForFood]

They don't have the right to tell ex-employees what to do, but current employees can make agreements that extend past employment.

[consteval]

... which isn't really how this goes, because these agreements are barely agreements.

I mean, you can't just put whatever you want in a contract. It's never worked that way. Not to mention that employees often can't amend contracts, and they can't say no either. In some industries it's impossible to find a job without a non-compete.

At that point, it's not an agreement, its coercion.

[WillPostForFood]

these agreements are barely agreements

They either are contracts with all the requirements of being a contract (agreement, consideration, etc..), or they are nothing.

[consteval]

Not true. Again you can't just put anything you want in a contract and then, if they agree, say "yep that works!"

Courts can, and regularly do, find certain parts of a contract are unreasonable and won't be enforced. Doesn't matter if both parties understood and agreed. Just because something is a contract doesn't mean it's really for real!