[zo1]

I think they do this very deliberately. Short of making an alternate timeline, they'd have to "play-out" the universe we know as part of TNG/VOY/ENT/DS9.

Sure, they could leave it vague and have us all guessing what happened in those intermediate years, but that wouldn't be the StarTrek we know as we'd have no idea how they got to that point.

Also, they'd essentially lock themselves into an intermediate storyline that somehow leads to the universe they portray.

Hopefully ,if they do decide to make the setting "post" all the other shows by a long stretch of time, they work around some of these pitfalls and come up with a great story and addition to the franchise.