Rhett Ellison’s father tweeted Saturday night that the Vikings have “toxic leadership” and said Sunday that free agents are leaving because they have a better chance of winning elsewhere.

Riki Ellison was an NFL linebacker from 1983-92 and won three Super Bowls with San Francisco. He said his son, a tight end who spent the past five years for Minnesota, signed last week with the New York Giants because he “of course” believes he has a better opportunity to win.

Ellison’s father also put up Saturday night a Facebook post in which he claimed a “mentality of physical practices” in Minnesota contributed to “hurt players on the offensive line and burn out the desire of the defense to play hard.”

Riki Ellison had tweeted Saturday night, “Exodus of their draft picks out of the Minnesota Vikings in free agency — with a new stadium, new facility — statement on toxic leadership.’’ The tweet was deleted Sunday night.

Reached by phone Sunday before the tweet was deleted, Ellison declined to say about whom he was referring. However, he said it’s noticeable how many free agents have departed since Thursday’s start of free agency.

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In addition to Ellison leaving, tackle Matt Kalil, cornerback Captain Munnerlyn and wide receiver Charles Johnson signed with Charlotte, punter Jeff Locke with Indianapolis and linebacker Audie Cole with Jacksonville. The Vikings, who have yet to re-sign any of their own free agents, had decided not to offer Johnson a tender as a restricted free agent before he joined the Panthers.

“Do (free agents) think this program is going in the right direction and a Super Bowl contender or are they in a position to be another start-up, starting up from scratch?’’ said Riki Ellison, chairman and founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance outside Washington. “That’s why you see your veterans are leaving because they have to look at the future. They should be able to retain anybody they want.

“There is something going on, from my perspective. Why would people be leaving a brand-new facility (U.S. Bank Stadium)? They got the best facility in the world. … That’s just not a normal thing to happen.’’

Kalil and Munnerlyn did have familiarity reasons to join the Panthers. Kalil’s brother, Ryan Kalil, is a Carolina center, and Munnerlyn had played for the team from 2009-13.

A Vikings official did not return a message Sunday requesting a comment from the team. Rhett Ellison could not be reached, and his father would not provide his contact information.

Riki Ellison called the 1,475-word statement he put up on Facebook generally “positive” about his son’s Minnesota tenure. In a statement entitled “Sweet Purple Memories,’’ he wrote his son’s time with the Vikings was “magical’’ and “memorable’’ and that they have “great owners.” However, he did express frustration about the Vikings beginning 5-0 last season before losing eight of their final 11 games to finish 8-8.

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Yannick Ngakoue’s listless Vikings debut left ‘a bad taste in my mouth’ The Vikings never looked the same after they went into a bye week following the 5-0 start. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner resigned when they were 5-2 and was replaced by Pat Shurmur.

Riki Ellison played at USC from 1979-82, when Turner was an assistant coach there.

“That bye week was tipping point,’’ Riki Ellison wrote. “The head coach (Mike Zimmer) and (general manager Rick Spielman) didn’t understand what they had and broke it, (leading to) the departure of Norv Turner, which was the red-flag indicator and the franchise has yet to recover, and the damage (is) still taking its toll. … There is no core offensive line, no leadership on the offense from the front seven, no running back, no No. 1 receiver and a tremendous void of lack of self-drafted developed players that were part of the best run in five years to set and lead the culture.

“Added to this was mentality of physical practices that continued to hurt players on the offensive line and burn out the desire of the defense to play hard when it counted most.’’

Minnesota has addressed the offensive line in free agency, signing tackles Ricky Reiff and Mike Remmers to big deals. Asked Sunday about the many injuries the Vikings had, Riki Ellison said, “Why is everybody still getting hurt? Why are there so many injuries? That’s just not a normal thing to happen.’’

Riki Ellison also elaborated on the Vikings never recovering from the bye week.

“Why would one of the best offensive coordinators walk out (after) they’re 5-0, and the best team in the NFL?’’ he said. “Something happened in that (bye) week.’’

Riki Ellison called it a “stupid decision” that the Vikings played tackle Jake Long Oct. 23 at Philadelphia, 12 days following his signing and after he had not played all season and was coming off several injury-riddled seasons. Long allowed two strip sacks for lost fumbles in a 21-10 loss that dropped Minnesota to 5-1.

Riki Ellison has turned some heads on Facebook before. He wrote a post last March saying his son would not re-sign with the Vikings, but soon took it down, and then the tight end signed a one-year deal with them.