Nelson is irrelevant as he had a totally different, much more severe injury than Woodruff.
Being 17 months removed from surgery does matter though as it increases the likelihood he'll be fully healed from his procedure. These things take time, as we saw with Ashby who only regained his stuff in July/August.
Also, do you really think this organization is in the business of paying $17 million for a player for PR reasons?
Like I said, I don't think it's wise to count on Woodruff returning to the top 10 starting pitcher he was prior to the injury given the nature of shoulder injuries, but odds are pretty good he'll be in the rotation in 2025 given the financial commitment and time distance from his surgery.