The only way I support FA is if a team is one Major player away from competing for a championship and they go all in to try to fill that, or they sign one, or a few mid-tier FAs still young enough and with unrealized upside, at a decent contract. I just don't want them to be major players in FA. I think they got burned by Finnegan, and to a lesser degree Wells. Cook, may become who they thought he could become but right now the jury is out. That's why I think anytime you can pick up extra picks, even in the lower rounds, and be active in UDFAs you continue to churn your roster the right way and within a manageable cap situation.
The other thing that sticks out about the highest contracts are that some (Long, JL, Bradford) were all part of the initial rookie contract structure so any resigning or restructuring of them BEGINS at a higher point. Long, JL, Bradford aren't going to take pay cuts off their initial salary. With a more reasonable salary structure in place now it is somewhat easier to resign/extend/restructure some of the current 2-3 year players.