Mike Florio thinks Aaron Rodgers is playing a game of chess with the Steelers

At this point, the Aaron Rodgers waiting game has to be getting older for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

They played it last offseason, and they chose to do it again this time around, and it's the middle of May and Rodgers is still technically a free agent with the option of retiring in his back pocket.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio doesn't think Rodgers is going to retire, though.

On the contrary, he thinks Rodgers is simply trying to build a fancy escape hatch into his contract.

It's not something that could be officially written in, but Florio wonders if Rodgers wants assurances that he'd be released if the Steelers get off to a bad start.

"This is speculation," Florio writes. "I haven’t heard anything to substantiate the possibility. But with a vacuum of information regarding Rodgers, the goal is to make sense of what’s happening. There’s no guarantee the Steelers will be as good or better than they were a year ago, especially with the franchise’s first coaching change in 19 years. If things go poorly, the Steelers may eventually want to give a young quarterback (Will Howard or Drew Allar) live game reps. If that happens, what will they do with Rodgers? That should be determined now. Even if it’s not part of the official contract (and it can’t be), Rodgers could seek an unofficial commitment that, if he’s ever benched, he’d also be released."

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Florio doesn't just spitball the idea, either. He breaks down the timeline such a move would have to happen on.

"If (it) happens after the trade deadline, Rodgers would have to pass through waivers," Florio writes. "If it’s believed at the time that Rodgers is targeting a potential quarterback-needy team, anyone could block that by putting in a waivers claim. There’s only one way for Rodgers to emerge from Pittsburgh in the event of a major early-season regression with the freedom to sign anywhere at any time. Rodgers would have to be released before the Tuesday after Week 9. What if he’s looking for that kind of commitment on the way in? If the Steelers are (for example) 3-6 or worse after the ninth Sunday of the season (assuming their bye comes after Week 9), he’ll be released — without having to ask for it."

It's a fascinating premise, and it has some precedent in other sports.

In baseball, a veteran player can sign a minor league contract with a clause that says if they aren't called up to the majors by a certain date, they can activate their own release into free agency.

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This is a bit different, as it'd be based more on a team's record, but it's believable to think Rodgers might consider something like this if it comes to mind.

This could have nothing to do with the wait, of course. That could just be Rodgers being Rodgers.

But for the moment, Steelers fans don't really have a clue of what's going on, and Florio was trying to come up with a possible explanation. It's certainly a cool concept.

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