You sign a f'n contract, honor it you ass. When they're not doing so hot they are eager to sign a deal. Then if their numbers get better a couple years into a 5 year deal say, then all of a sudden they want to restructure the deal and threaten hold outs. I don't get how this is acceptable.
If you have the leverage to be able to restructure your contract - why not do it case in point - Brian Urlacher
The nature of sports business involves being able to renegotiate. It's not just the players, the teams get players to redo all the time to the teams cap benefit, or for the player to stick around.