Fewer and fewer athletes get more and more money, and more and more players get the league minimum. Owners figure out ways to work around the system, most players don't benefit in the long run and fans hate it because their favorite athletes are always on the move in search of more money. A salary maximum, coupled with a hard salary cap, would solve most of those problems. Of course, the owners are not poor defenseless victims here, either. But they shouldn't have to use it all for salaries.
Owners deserve to make some money, too.
Owners should be required to spend a certain percentage on salaries, and the salary minimums and maximums should increase as profits do. Yes, I realize that the players union would never agree to such a thing, but it should. The union is designed to protect the majority of its members, and a salary maximum would benefit more players than it would hurt. But salaries for all other levels of players would rise because owners would no longer be foolishly spending most of their salary allotment on one or two players. In addition, a salary maximum would stop the large number of free-agency defections that occur under the NFL system.