In the 2012 off-season, with the Predators unable to take Weber to arbitration again (a player can only be subjected to team-elected arbitration once in his career), Weber signed a front-loaded $110 million, 14-year offer sheet ($68 million of it as a signing bonus) from the Philadelphia Flyers on July 19. The offer sheet was the richest in NHL history in terms of total money, money per season, and length; surpassing the previous offer sheet record set by Thomas Vanek. Already having lost Weber's defensive partner Ryan Suter to unrestricted free agency, the Predators matched the offer sheet five days later. Following the 2012–13 NHL lockout, the CBA was changed to prevent teams from signing other players to similar deals.