I agree with what you saying about nobody owes anyone anything, least of all owners don't owe players a lifetime deal nor do players want to be paid less than the maximum they can get.
We can compare players to roofers, but we all know that roofers are in less demand than players, so players will be able to command a higher price based on what it will cost to get another player of similar value.
Personally, I rather just abolish all the salary cap rules etc, and let them all make up whatever contact they like - if you want to play for free then good for you, if you want to bankrupt your team then good for you too.