I think the point you might be missing, most attributed to playing a short time, is that players can go for a high price if the owner wants them for any reason(high salary, low salary, great starting skills, high potential, named Thomas) and some attributes create an atmosphere of high prices whether or not the player is ready to play regular starter minutes or not. Just from looking at your players salaries, I wouldn't buy any of them with the intention of them being a competitive starter, even with my team being a bit less competitive this year going for an all-American team.
I have 1757 players for sale and I'm $25,835,360 in debt. Buy them at outrageous prices, or be selfish and make me go bankrupt. You decide, BB.