There's no knee jerk reaction. At a certain point, the players have to realize they misjudged the market. The market changed and players in their 30+ age are no longer valued as much as they were. They never should've been valued as much as they were, and they shouldn't complain know that the market has corrected itself.
I understand why they aren't happy, but they have to play within these rules, but on the next CBA, they should push to get rid of arbitration and allow all players to be UFA's at age 27/28. They'll have to give up something to get that.
The problem is, clubs get the best years out of players when they are very cheap. Not the club's fault, they are just playing by the rules. Change it so that players can make more money during their top playing days, and they won't have to worry about getting their big contract when they are past their prime. You can't be upset at clubs for not handing out contracts that they know they will regret.