Ashton Jeanty Draft Odds Just Shifted; How Patriots Might Be Involved

The Chicago Bears might want to put Ashton Jeanty in their backfield with Caleb Williams. Could the New England Patriots help them do it?

The first three picks of the 2025 NFL Draft look to be pretty solid at this point. The Tennessee Titans are expected to draft quarterback Cam Ward with the No. 1 pick, and then Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter are expected to follow, most likely to the Cleveland Browns and the New York Giants, respectively.

Where things could get interesting, though, is with the Patriots at No. 4. That in part depends on what the Jacksonville Jaguars are planning to do with the fifth pick. If Jacksonville has its eye on Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, the Bears and Patriots could have some talking to do — assuming they haven’t already had those discussions.

There was a pretty stunning shift in the betting odds Thursday afternoon, as the Bears became the odds-on favorite to draft Jeanty, according to DraftKings Sportsbooks.

Which team will Ashton Jeanty be drafted by?
Bears -135
Jaguars +110
Raiders +450
Patriots 12-1
Broncos 22-1

(Odds as of Thursday, 12:45 p.m. ET)

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Jeanty could fall to No. 10, where the Bears pick, but he’s considered one of the most NFL-ready players in the draft. Some believe he’s the third-best player behind Hunter and Carter.

But the Bears were 3-1 to draft him as of Thursday morning. That’s a significant shift that could signal two things: The first is that there’s actual smoke to that fire, and that caused the original shift. The second is that once it started moving, bettors jumped on it while there was still value (he was -105 at one point, too).

It would take some pretty serious capital to move up the six sports for Chicago to get to No. 4. The Draft Tek pick value chart says it’s a 900-point difference between the two selections. The Bears could easily make that move, though. Chicago owns three of the first 41 picks in the draft (including No. 10), so they could package at least one of their two second-round picks (Nos. 39 and 41) to get up to No. 4. The Patriots would certainly have to listen to that offer.

The Bears could also be talking to the Jaguars at No. 5 about moving up, despite Jeanty being connected to Jacksonville, too. Even if that’s the case, the Patriots could also try to leverage the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 6. Vegas has been connected to Jeanty in the lead-up, too. New England theoretically could call the Raiders and give them a chance to come up two spots to No. 4, and if that’s on the table, it could just become an auction.

Of course, the Patriots may be the ones leaking or manufacturing all of this for that very reason.

That’s all part of the draft-day fun.