So the actual details of the offer sheet is that it's 14 years, $110 million ($7.857 million cap hit), paying Weber $56 million over the first 4 years and $80 million over the first 6 years.
2012-13 (age 27): $1 million salary + $13 million signing bonus (league maximum $14M)
2013-14 (28): $1 million salary + $13 million signing bonus (league maximum $14M)
2014-15 (29): $1 million salary + $13 million signing bonus (league maximum $14M)
2015-16 (30): $1 million salary + $13 million signing bonus (league maximum $14M)
2016-17 (31): $4 million salary + $8 million signing bonus (total $12 million)
2017-18 (32): $4 million salary + $8 million signing bonus (total $12 million)
2018-19 (33): $6 million salary
2019-20 (34): $6 million salary
2020-21 (35): $6 million salary
2021-22 (36): $6 million salary
2022-23 (37): $3 million salary
2023-24 (38): $1 million salary
2024-25 (39): $1 million salary
2025-26 (40): $1 million salary
TOTAL: $110 million
That's a huge pill to swallow for the Predators. For a team that doesn't have the budget of others, Holmgren really put them in a bind here with that much loaded onto the front-end. You'd have to think that Nashville would do everything they can to match it, but they may have to make room for all that salary, which would further deplete their roster.
It's really a shame. The Predators organization has managed to get people in friggin' Tennessee interested in hockey and they could lose two franchise players in one offseason for nothing (well, 4 first rounders, but that won't help them in the short term). Preds ownership has to weigh biting the bullet on this massive salary vs. the money they'd lose out on by losing two superstars, and I don't envy them for having to make that decision.
As for Weber himself, he has to do what he has to do. It's odd to see a player sign an offer sheet of this magnitude a year before he hits UFA status, but you can't pass a deal up like this when the CBA has expired and contracts could come plummeting down.
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