It does seem to be relatively popular for scientists to philosophize towards the end of their careers, though the quality is mixed. Maybe it would be better if there were more people familiar with multiple fields. For example, Stephen Hawking's latest book is in part theoretical physics, but in part metaphysics, proposing a new position of "model-dependent realism". That part might've been improved by better understanding the existing realist and non-realist positions and the problems they've encountered. Of course, some existing metaphysics might be improved by better understanding theoretical physics, so it's not really a one-way street.

But the approach of trying to pretend that that's not philosophy and therefore you don't have to engage with philosophy seems odder; it's difficult for me to see how proposing a metaphysical interpretation of a physics theory is not philosophy.