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Remember how Ed DeBartelo, Jr. was considered a "capologist". It's because he manipulated the salary cap so well. When he left for Cleveland, all that scheming and wheeling and dealing came to an end. Also at the time was when Steve Young left.
And common sense can indeed work on a number of levels - especially here when you consider that salary caps put lots of pressure on teams to jettison older veterans who may not be contributing as well. For example, Derek Jeter is definitely not worth what he's being paid and hasn't been for a few years. Football also has non-guaranteed contracts allowing for easier jettisoning of players (something necessary in a salary cap system). There are, of course, stars who jump to different teams due to free agency. But at the same token stars can be kept by a team more easily than in the salary cap NFL. It is the reason the NBA did the "soft cap" - to address the issues with the NFL's salary cap.
Hell, its even in the wiki entry for salary cap:
And the last sentence is interesting - this practice was so widespread that veteran minimum counted for less in salary cap than what they were getting paid (though still more than rookie minimums, obviously).
And common sense can indeed work on a number of levels - especially here when you consider that salary caps put lots of pressure on teams to jettison older veterans who may not be contributing as well. For example, Derek Jeter is definitely not worth what he's being paid and hasn't been for a few years. Football also has non-guaranteed contracts allowing for easier jettisoning of players (something necessary in a salary cap system). There are, of course, stars who jump to different teams due to free agency. But at the same token stars can be kept by a team more easily than in the salary cap NFL. It is the reason the NBA did the "soft cap" - to address the issues with the NFL's salary cap.
Hell, its even in the wiki entry for salary cap:
Generally, the practice of retaining veteran players who had contributed to the team in the past, but whose abilities have declined, became less common in the era of the salary cap.[9] A veteran's minimum salary was required to be higher than a player with lesser experience. This means teams tended to favor cheaper, less experienced prospects with growth potential, with an aim to having a group of players who quickly develop into their prime while still being on cheaper contracts than their peers. To offset this tendency which pushed out veteran players, even those who became fan favorites, the players' association accepted an arrangement where a veteran player who receives no bonuses in his contract may be paid the veteran minimum of up to $810,000, while only accounting for only $425,000 in salary-cap space.
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