Cowboys Target Jeanty 'Tentative Trade' Already Made?

FRISCO - NFL Draft Day is underway ... and we already have our No. 1 rumor.

Right alongside Colorado's Travis Hunter, slated to be picked on Thursday night by the Cleveland Browns at No. 2, there isn't a name in the NFL Draft that has more anticipation around its announcement than Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. That's been the case for a while.

And it's even more so now.

Thursday, we won't have to wait long to hear his name called and watch him shake the commissioner's hand in Green Bay.

We know what the analysts, rankings, mock drafts and fans think ... But where does Ashton Jeanty think he'll be drafted?

Speaking with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Jeanty predicted his highest possible selection and his lowest:

"I think the earliest that I would go is No. 6. That's my belief. That would be the Raiders at that pick, or somebody else trading up to get in front of them, possibly. I think that's what's going to happen."

The lowest? We could see this one coming: "I would say No. 12," Jeanty said quickly. "Yeah, I think that would be the floor, honestly."

Well, DFW native Jeanty - "The Frisco Kid,'' as we call him - might just be wrong.

He might go at No. 5.

According to Chicago insider Ben Devine, the Bears agreed to a "tentative" trade on Wednesday. Devine reports that the deal is contingent on a specific player being available.

We have heard that the Bears were looking to move up from the No. 10 pick. And we also know that ESPN's Adam Schefter wrote that NFL sources "believe the Bears are praying'' to land Jeanty.

Ashton's view from DFW?

"You know,'' he said, "everybody around the city is hoping that I'm a Cowboy."

What to make of this? Less and less ...

Entering the Draft process, you'd be surprised to see a mock draft that didn't have Jeanty finding his way to the hometown Cowboys ... but after an impressive Combine and more teams realizing his immediate superstar potential, his stock as risen into consensus top-10 territory.

The Cowboys need a running back. They plan on drafting one.

But probably not at No. 12; we've reported that Dallas is actively trying to trade down.

And now it seems that Jeanty - who attended high school right down the road from the team's practice facility - wouldn't have been available anyway ...

Assuming this "tentative trade'' goes through.