JuJu Smith-Schuster's making it clear ahead of his impending free agency that he LOVED playing with Patrick Mahomes ... telling TMZ Sports the quarterback is a straight-up "dog."
The star wide receiver can choose to sign with any team in the NFL later this month ... but when we saw him out at LAX this week, we had to ask if he was leaning toward a return to K.C.
JuJu was a bit coy about it all -- but he did note that catching passes from the Chiefs star QB was a dream.
"Ah, man," Smith-Schuster said. "He's the MVP. He's a dog, man."
The 26-year-old then admitted it'd be hard to turn down playing with the signal-caller again in 2023.
"Yeah, man," he said. "It's Patty Mahomes. He's a dog."
Free agency officially kicks off on March 15 -- and Smith-Schuster figures to be a hot commodity -- after recording 78 receptions for 933 yards in 2022.
It's unclear if the Chiefs have made him any sort of offer or will be willing to let him explore the market -- but JuJu clearly isn't sweating any of it.
Wearing a pair of sweet shades, Smith-Schuster -- fresh off his first-ever Super Bowl win -- said he'll be spending the leadup to free agency in Japan!!
Yeah, it's still great to be a champ.