Back during the initial development of the 777 (and shortly after the Lauda 767 crash when a reverser deployed in-flight) I semi-seriously asked the question of why didn't we just get rid of thrust reversers (at least at that time, we didn't even get any credit for them under FAA regulations).
One of the discussion points was that using reversers saved over $100/landing in brake wear and maintenance.
Sounds like a classic case of 'pay me now, or pay me later'
