Players on the New England Patriots are the latest to confirm that they will vote to decertify the player’s union, a procedural step that will allow the union to take the NFL owners to court should it become necessary to fight an expected lockout in 2011. The lockout will occur unless a collective bargaining agreement is reached before the 2011 season. Decertification will allow the NFL Players Association to take the owners to antitrust court, as occurred in 1987.

Teams that have voted to decertify now include New Orleans, Dallas, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Buffalo, the New York Giants and the New York Jets. The New England Patriots will become the tenth team to so vote when the vote is taken, which should happen within days.

The last time the NFLPA took the owners to antitrust Court was in 1987. That episode led to several of the structures that are now in place between the owners and players. These include free agency, the salary cap and a salary floor. It is not clear what the players would push for this time around if they are given the opportunity.

With the number of teams who have voted to decertify approaching 10 and no teams taking the opposite position, an eventual resolution to decertify the players’ union seems certain. In the meantime, players are doing what they can to get ready for the potential lockout. They are being encouraged by the union to save 25% of their 2010 salaries. The union has made a program available that will automatically deposit that portion of a player’s check into a separate savings account. With players and the union taking such concrete steps to prepare for a lockout that is not yet certain, the chances of avoiding this grim result seem to be waning.