While attending Tulane, worked at the hospital; one of the services that worked the same floor as our unit was orthopedics...

During that time working while in school, can tell you this is common in borderline decisons for Sx, and the Docs will try to see if the patient can heal sans Sx...

Kinda of the First Do No Harm philosophy that is implied in the Hippocratic Oath; Sx brings the risk of infection, delaying, even complicating, recovery...

The unrelated parallels (other than being New Orleans Saints) to the rookie breakout and subsequent injuries as Marques Colston incurred though are troublesome...

Not so worried about WRx as Calloway and Tre'Quan should be able to provide enough production; but the WRz is now that much more important...

Hoping the rookie Baker can take the opportunity for the slot targets as the WRs...

The opportunity for those targets is now Colonel Trautman...

That's exactly what happened with my knee, wait....wait....wait.... surgury.

Elective surgeries were impossible to schedule for the beginning few months of the year. I know that for certain here in Louisiana. I suspect it was the same elsewhere. A guy in my Sunday School class had to wait from February until late May to have knee surgery. My niece works for an orthopedic clinic and they didn't do anything other than emergency surgery for months, as well. Not saying this is the definite reason, but it may have been a factor.

Then again, he may have hoped it would heal on its own.

All of this is fine, except in the case of a professional football player. Drew Brees didn't wait for his arm injury to heal before electing surgery. If that's your living, you get her done. Even if you wait to heal, which he had already done DURING the season, he'd know by SB time it was inevitable. He just lost invaluable time and likely cost the team in letting them down.

You are assuming the decision to wait was all his. As JP pointed out, a good ortho surgeon will avoid surgery at all cost. Their priority is for the well-being of their patient, not the convenience of the team or the wishes of the fans.