In my experience, the game isn't too bad at adjusting desired salary to player quality and performance. There may be an exception for stud players who drop off and then become free agents, but at that point, who cares?

In the BBL, salaries have gotten rediculous because people have been willing to offer so much over asking price to land even a decent FA. (I've been guilty of this in the past, but stopped doing this after one too many of those didn't produce.)

You're right though, the BBL is older and salaries have inflated, but really IMO, that's more the fault of owners throwing too much money around for good talent. When the number of good players in FA is small, owners will just do whatever it takes. Over time, if the game is designed right, they'll pay the price. I know I've paid the price and learned my lesson there in the past.

It's up to each of us to be responsible with our money (ie. treat it more like real money and less like monopoly money). If a game is designed poorly, the monopoly money approach can really screw things up for everyone. If the game is designed well, this is self-correcting over time as players realize the long-term implications of over-paying for FAs.

In the MIBL, I think many folks have learned those lessons from their time in the BBL, and therefore salaries aren't escalating like they did in the BBL. Only time will tell with that though. I may be wrong.  Of course super-star players will always get top dollar, but the problem has been that just "good" players were making what super-stars should. In the real world, people would lose jobs over this. In OOTP, you just simply screw your team in the long run.

I agree with Caelon that I don't like the trade implications of the Franchise tag. I too have been stuck with a Franchise player who I couldn't get rid of, or died rating-wise.