Relative velocity at earth is extremely high. The minimum velocity from LEO to escape is ~3350 m/s, which you would need to burn off on the trip back. That‘s a lot of fuel you‘d need to burn off that delta v, so immediate reentry from escape trajectory is the way to go
AboveTheCarmanLine t1_j5yak2w wrote
Reply to Why do sample return missions such as OSIRIS-REx use their own reentry vehicles instead of just going to the space station for pickup and return with ISS equipment? by PromptCritical725
Relative velocity at earth is extremely high. The minimum velocity from LEO to escape is ~3350 m/s, which you would need to burn off on the trip back. That‘s a lot of fuel you‘d need to burn off that delta v, so immediate reentry from escape trajectory is the way to go