Being a Bills fan who used to play Madden, it drove me nuts to see the lack of cards they got, while the Cowboys and Steelers were tripping over cards.
As a Yankee fan, I do appreciate having access to so many cards, but I agree that it's excessive. By the end of the season, every single team should be able to have a 97 or higher card for every starting position. With the history of the game, it shouldn't be too hard to find.
Or, one thing Madden did well, was let you choose the team the player was associated with, so long as that player actually played for that team in real life.