Prior to joining ESPN, Werder was a NFL correspondent for CNNSI on CNN's Sports Tonight and CNN's Sunday NFL Preview from its launch in 1996 until 1998. He was a Dallas Cowboys beat writer for the Dallas Morning News from 1992 to 1996 and the Fort Worth Star Telegram in 1989. He also served as the NFL beat writer for The Orlando Sentinel in 1991 and was a Denver Broncos beat writer for the Boulder Daily Camera from 1984 to 1989. During that time he was also a NFL reporter for The National, from 1990 to 1991, and a correspondent for Sports Illustrated from 1987 to 1995.