Defenseman Shea Weber will stay with Nashville after the Predators matched a 14-year, $110 million offer sheet fromthe Flyers, spoiling their bid for a defensive upgrade.

PHILADELPHIA — Shea Weber can thank the Philadelphia Flyers for one of the richest and longest contracts in the NHL.

But the Nashville Predators will pick up the tab.

The small-market Predators made the bold move Tuesday to match the staggering offer sheet made by a deep-pocketed Flyers organization to keep the two-time Norris Trophy-nominated defenseman in the franchise.

Shea it ain’t so, Philly. Weber is still a Predator.

Nashville dug deep into the pocketbook and decided to pay Weber the $110 million over 14 years offered by the Flyers. Weber, 26, is the Predators’ captain and played on a $7.5 million arbitrator’s award last season. He had 19 goals and 49 points along the way.

Nashville already lost free-agent defenseman Ryan Suter to Minnesota this summer, and losing Weber would have been an unexpected blow to a defense-first team that had 104 points last season and has captured hearts around the region the past two years with postseason runs.

The Flyers, eliminated in the second round the past seasons after a run to the Stanley Cup finals in 2010, were looking for someone to fill the void left by defenseman Chris Pronger’s absence. Instead, Philadelphia is left scrambling.

And Weber, for a week at least, hoped he would land in Philadelphia. Now, he will likely end his career in Nashville.

“In tendering an offer sheet to Shea Weber, we were trying to add a top defenseman entering the prime of his career,” Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said. “With Nashville matching our offer, we wish Shea and the Predators all the best.”

Weber is owned $27 million over the next year and $68 million in bonus money over the first six years of the deal under the current CBA.