The Belfast man is the current IBF and WBA world super-bantamweight champion.
Showtime announced on Friday that Frampton and Santa Cruz have "agreed to a championship match-up to be scheduled for late summer".
If the fight goes ahead Frampton would have to relinquish his WBA super-bantamweight belt.
Frampton has been ordered to defend his WBA title against Guillermo Rigondeaux by 27 July.
However, Frampton's manager Barry McGuigan has consistently ruled out the Cuban as a possible opponent while saying that a showdown with WBA featherweight champion Santa Cruz was an "obvious fight".
Frampton, 28, outpointed Scott Quigg on last month to add the WBA world title to his IBF belt.
Carl Frampton is set to move up a division to fight Mexican Leo Santa Cruz for the WBA world featherweight title this summer.