Depends. Some can, but my industry cannot. I write seasonal software. A release in May won't be used until the next March, so there is no point in any release that isn't in January/February. (A march release will be skipped because they are scared of bugs, February releases gives customers time to upgrade and test before then critical time when they need it)
Thus for me it makes the deadline or it doesn't. Early isn't a benefit, late is a problem.
Sort of. I go on the next project, but we let some contractors go at the end of the project. Ultimately I'm putting a computer on machines that were common in 1890:
there isn't much innovation to add that previous engineers couldn't think of. We can get larger than past generations, a little more accurate and reliable: but in the end the designs from 1890 weren't that much worse that today's.
Thus for me it makes the deadline or it doesn't. Early isn't a benefit, late is a problem.